Another Chaotic Adventure
by seasidewriter1
Summary: Arabella, Riley, Ben and Abigail are all back again! Now, they're trying to find the Book Of Secrets as well as Cibola. This is a sequel to my story 'Bonding Through Chaos'. Please read that before reading this! Rated for swearing. Riley/OC
1. Chapter One: Just The Beginning

_Disclaimer: I do not own either of the National Treasure movies, or any of the characters. I only own Arabella._

Chapter One: Just The Beginning

I could feel sunshine on my face and I smiled in my sleep, happily snuggling into the puffy blankets surrounding me. I honestly never remembered how good sleep felt till you went to bed completely exhausted. I was still tired, having had a late night with Riley- we had seen a movie, gone to dinner and then went home, followed by a… um… well… late night. Speaking of Riley, due to the fact I felt no body heat behind me, he had already woken up.

I tucked my hands under my pillow, and set back in for more sleep. I felt pressure on the end of the bed, but I ignored it, curling up more. I then felt the pressure inch up the bed and lay down behind me, and the blankets lifted up briefly. I scrunched my eyebrows and shifted again. I felt someone place a kiss on my bare shoulder.

" Morning, love. Time to get up!" I heard Riley say. I groaned and rolled onto my stomach.

" No…" I muttered into my pillow.

" You really do have to wake up. It is a very important day." Riley said with excitement in his voice. I had to smile.

" I know it is. But, could I _please_ get some more sleep? Please?" I asked.

" No. By the way, if you were going to try and make it to Ben's history seminar thing or whatever it was, you aren't going to make it." Riley told me. I finally opened my eyes and turned my head to look at him. He had gotten his deep brown hair cut shorter a month ago and had it trimmed yesterday, and he had shaved his goatee off, saying he wanted to 'look more professional'.

" I've heard the story before, and I let Ben know that I wasn't going to make it because of your book signing." I explained. Riley grinned at me.

" I think that might just be a convenient excuse, because methinks that even _you_ get a little tired of some of Ben's stories!" Riley teased me. I smacked his arm.

" Ben is still very much like my older brother! It's just that I know most of the stories by heart, and I don't think that going to a _lecture_ this morning would be very good- I'm still tired." I told him as I began to play with the hem of the sleeve on his cotton t-shirt he had put on. He smiled and kissed my forehead.

" So am I. So. What do you say to breakfast?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

" Let me guess, you were too lazy to even prepare cereal, so that is one of the reasons you're waking me up"?" I asked, beginning to sit up.

" Arabella, are you accusing me of- well, actually, you're right. It's just that I love your cooking!" Riley said sitting up and getting out from under the blankets. I rolled my eyes.

" I know, when we first met, you ate the scrambled eggs I made in two minutes flat- and I gave you a _whole_ plate." I reminded him. " Could you hand me a shirt?" I asked.

" Um, yeah." He said going to the dresser in the corner of our bedroom. He pulled out a plain navy blue v-neck t-shirt and tossed it to me.

" Thank you!" I said pulling it on. After getting dressed, I walked out of our bedroom and towards the kitchen. Shortly after returning from Cairo, we found an apartment that was bigger than my old one- this one actually had a kitchen. Not a kitchenette, a kitchen. It also had a small guest room, and a nice sized living room.

I yawned as I walked over to the faucet and grabbed a glass of water. I sipped at it, beginning to gather what was necessary to make pancakes. I tied my hair loosely and lazily back as I began to mix the batter. I glanced at the fridge and saw a picture of Ben, Abigail, Riley and I all standing outside Trinity Church after we found the treasure. I smiled at our excited faces.

It had been about a year since we found the treasure, and it still only felt like it happened yesterday. Riley kept trying to point out that he had a tiny scar on his finger from that splinter that had been stuck in his finger from falling onto the staircase. My arm had taken about four weeks to fully heal. I smiled and found myself remembering all of the adventure.

I was only snapped back into reality when I realized that the skillet was hot enough to start cooking the pancakes. I poured small pools of batter onto the skillet and grabbed a spatula, waiting for the first side to be finished cooking.

I heard Riley rummaging around in the bedroom closet, obviously trying to find what to wear to his book signing. After the book had been published, I finally got to read it- he wouldn't let me read the drafts because he wanted it to be a surprise. I absolutely loved the book- he talked about our adventure, and also talked about other things like Area 51 and other supposed 'urban legends'. He also sent a copy to Ben, Abigail and Patrick.

" Riley! Breakfast is done!" I called out, and immediately heard him run towards the kitchen. I rolled my eyes, setting down the pancakes onto our small table, and put out butter and syrup as well as forks, knives and two plates. Riley slid into his seat and smiled up at me.

" Smells good!" He told me, piling three pancakes onto his plate.

" Why thank you. I hope it tastes just as good." I commented, smiling and sitting down next to him. As expected, Riley devoured most of the pancakes- I only ate two, but then again, that's usually the maximum amount of pancakes I could ever eat.

After breakfast Riley helped me clean up.

" If you're still wondering what to wear, why don't you actually wear that suit you bought last month?" I suggested. Riley froze.

" You know what, that is a good idea." Riley told me. I rolled my eyes.

" _You_ were the one who told me that you wanted to wear it to the signing." I reminded him.

" Oh. Right. Well, thanks for reminding me." Riley said walking over to me, smiling. I smiled back, wrapping my arms around his neck, smoothing out his hair. He grinned, his bright blue eyes sparkling. He wound his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. Riley kissed my forehead, letting his lips stay against my skin.

Riley always made me feel special and beautiful. I always thought my fair skin that barely tanned made me look like a weirdo, but he said it was a lovely shade of ivory. He told me he never thought I looked bad, and that I was always either, beautiful, gorgeous or stunning, and that even if I did look horrible, he'd still love me. He also told me that he enjoyed the fact that I had a passion for history, and appreciated I didn't always launch into stories like Ben did, and only talked about what I knew when it was needed- like when trying to figure out a treasure map. He loved my laugh and my hair and my eyes and my personality. And I loved absolutely everything about him.

I loved that Riley was a nerd like me, but loved that he was a computer genius as well. I loved the way his voice would drop to a monotone when he was trying to prove a point, or when he was annoyed. I loved how excited he got at the tiniest little things. He was also the most handsome man I ever met.

" You know I like it when your hair is down." He told me. He pulled my hair out of its ponytail and moved it so it rested around my shoulders, then tucked it behind my ears. He smiled. " Much better." He whispered. I giggled quietly and rested my forehead against his.

" Love you." I said.

" Love you too." He replied before kissing me. I kissed back, leaning against him more. As the kiss got more heated, Riley pulled me even closer and toyed with the hem of my shirt. I internally rolled my eyes and pulled away, Riley sighing and opening his eyes.

" Now why did you do that?" He asked.

" Because you have a book signing to go to in… nineteen minutes." I informed, him, pointing at the clock.

" Shit!" He said running to the bedroom to get dressed. I began to laugh as I heard him scramble around the room. I walked in and calmly avoided his panicked running as he got undressed, and began to get redressed, fumbling with buttons and trying to tie his tie. I got dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, a white lace blouse with a white tank top beneath and the pair of converse Riley found for me back when we first met. I brushed through my hair, loosening the already loose curls and wavy locks, and watched as Riley continued to panic.

" Riley!" I said. He froze and looked at me. " Come over here." He walked over and I knocked his hands away from his grey suit jacket. I straightened his tie and hair and fixed the buttons on his grey vest. " Relax, it'll be okay. You'll sign books, then come home, and we'll figure out something else to do, mmkay?" I asked. He smiled at me.

" God, you're amazing." He told me.

" Don't forget your glasses again." I said pointing to the bedside table. He rushed over, grabbed them and slid them into his pocket. " Good to go?" I asked.

" Yeah." He said with a smile. I smiled back.

" Well then, Mr. Author, let us go." I said taking his hand. We both headed to the door, having no idea what the end of the day would bring.

_**Afterword: FIRST CHAPTER! =D Okay, yeah, I know: It's short. Why is it short? Cause it's late and I need to do some homework… XD But in the next chapter, we get into the actual story, this was just kinda like a little follow up on Riley and Arabella's lives since the end of the first story/movie. (and if this chapter sucked, I SWEAR that the next chapter will be better!) Hope you liked it! REVIEWS WOULD BE LOVED! Thanks!**_


	2. Chapter Two: The War May Be Over

_Disclaimer: I do not own either of the National Treasure movies or any of the characters. I only own Arabella._

Chapter Two: The War May Be Over, But a New One Has Just Begun

By the time we were allowed to set up at the bookstore, it was somewhere around two in the afternoon. We had gotten lunch and then returned to the bookstore. They had finally set up a table with piles of Riley's book 'The Templar Treasure' on it, as well as a life sized cardboard cut out of Riley dressed as an 'explorer'. And, honestly, I have no idea why he even agreed to have his picture taken like that. I didn't see how it didn't embarrass him, because I certainly would be. Riley sat behind the table, organizing his books. And waiting. I sat off to the side, rereading the book again.

He'd been waiting for a half hour. He practiced his signature in the front of my book forty-two times. He smiled as an older man in a black coat walked by. He sighed when the man didn't stop.

" Don't get discouraged." I told him, leaning back in my chair.

" Kinda hard not to, don't you think?" Riley said in a monotone, looking over at me. He had replaced his older glasses with newer ones, the frames still square, but they were slightly thicker. He still looked heart-achingly cute in them. Just then, a woman with long blond hair, a black tight tank top an expensive looking Coach purse over her shoulder walked up to the table and picked up a book. She looked like the kind of girl who would have been that perfect popular girl all the boys loved in high school. The kind of girl I hated.

" Oh…" She muttered looking at the book. Is this a book about the Templar Treasure?" The woman asked. I groaned quietly. Isn't that what the title of the book said?

" Yes. It _is_ about the Templar Treasure." Riley stated. " But, it's also about other things. Uh, conspiracy theories, urban legends and other myths that are true." Riley explained. I shut the book and crossed my arms, watching him. He was smiling just a bit too much for my liking.

" So, the author is here signing copies?" The woman asked, smiling. Riley still maintained a smile.

" I'm the author." He told her.

" You are?" She asked, her smile just about disappearing.

" Yeah, I am. You see," Riley gestured to the back of the book. The woman flipped it open. " There's my picture right there." Riley said, raising an eyebrow and imitating his photo. The woman looked up at him. " It's a pretty good picture." I do have to admit, it is.

" I thought that guy Benjamin Gates found the treasure." She said.

" Well, yes, Ben _did_ but I am one of the co-finders." Riley said, his smile now gone.

" Oh. Well I've never heard of you!" She said smiling. Riley put on a fake smile.

" Oh!" He said. The woman set down the book and walked away. Another woman walked over, and she had long straight brown hair, with a low cut pink tank top, also looking like one of those popular girls that I constantly hated. She grinned as she picked up Riley's book.

" Oh my gosh! Are you Ben gates?" She asked. Riley smiled.

" Yes. Yes I am." He said. I raised my eyebrow at him. He was lying? He usually never lied…  
>" Do you own a red Ferrari?" She asked. He looked down and took off his glasses, then smiled and looked up at the woman.<p>

" Yes. I do." He said. I felt my fists clench. He was _flirting_ with her. I didn't care if it was unintentional or not, but he was flirting. With another woman. I stood up and was about to walk over to him, but the woman looked out the window and said,

" Well it's being towed."

" Hm?" He asked. She looked pointedly out the window. Riley put on his glasses and we both looked out the window to see his Ferrari being loaded onto a tow truck. He smiled at the woman briefly, and then at me with a small laugh before he stood so quickly that his chair toppled over and he bolted out the door. The woman set the book down and slowly walked off. I walked over to the window and watched as the Ferrari was taken away.

" Wait! WAIT! THAT'S MY CAR!" I heard Riley shout as I watched him run down the sidewalk, trying to stop the tow truck. I shook my head and walked back over to the table piled high with books. After getting a look from a sales rep who had helped us set up, I nodded.

" Yeah, I know. I'll start packing up." I said looking at my watch. It was almost three. The 'signing' was over.

When Riley finally walked back inside he sighed and looked over to me. I had finished putting the books back in their boxes. I stood up and looked at him.

" Ready to go?" I asked. He sighed and grabbed one of the cardboard cut outs of himself.

" Yeah…" He told me. I grabbed the small cart I was hauling the books with and we left the store. We began the walk home in silence. Needless to say, I was a tiny bit pissed off with Riley. I know that most people can't help themselves when they flirt with attractive people. But the fact that it was _Riley_- the man who I loved- who was doing the flirting, made me upset. Riley noticed my mood as we rounded a corner.

" Are you okay, Arabella?" Riley asked.

" Hm? Oh. Yeah." I said quickly. I looked over at Riley and he raised an eyebrow.

" You do realize, I can tell when you lie, right?" He asked. I sighed.

" Okay, something _is_ bothering me, but you don't have to worry." I tried to convince him. He let out a laugh and stopped, grabbing my arm.

" No, I will worry because I love you, and I don't want you to be all sad and upset." He told me.

" That's slightly redundant." I pointed out. " Upset means possible unhappiness and unhappiness can also be called sad." Riley rolled his eyes.

" Potato, pohtato. Tell me what's wrong." He insisted. I thought a moment. The worse that could happen is that he could tell me I was overreacting. Actually, the worst of the worst that could happen, would be that he'd breakup with me. I shut my eyes a second before opening and looked at him.

" Those girls back there were very pretty." I said. Riley gave me a confused look and shrugged.

" They looked nice I guess." He said. " Why did you bring that up, I thought we were-" He froze when he saw the small traces of a frown pulling at the corners of my mouth. " Oh." He said.

" It may just be my imagination, but I thought you were flirting with them." I said quietly, looking down at my feet, kicking at an imaginary pebble. Riley set his cardboard cutout down and turned me to face him, and then hugged me. I rested my head against his chest and hugged back.

" I honestly didn't notice if I was, I swear. And you know me I usually have no idea when I _do_ flirt. And when I actually _try_ it usually blows up in my face." He pointed out. I laughed into his shirt. His voice sounded sincere and when I looked up at him he was staring down at me with a smile. " Besides, you know I think you're the most beautiful woman on Earth, right?" He asked, leaning his forehead against mine. I smiled and kissed his cheek.

" You usually tell me that at least once a day." I replied. He grinned.

" Good." Riley said.

" So, _why_ was the Ferrari taken away?" I asked as we began to walk again. He sighed.

" Okay… so…" Riley began.

OOOO

When we finally made it home, Riley had removed his jacket, loosened his tie, and unbuttoned his vest and we were both exhausted. We found Ben sitting on the steps in front of our apartment's door, reading a book on the civil war. Ben had recently acquired a pair of reading glasses, and they were deep brown and square framed. He was wearing a dark blue suit jacket and his hair was brushed neatly. He must have just come from his lecture. He looked up at us and we stopped at the foot of the stairs.

" Where's the Ferrari?" Ben asked as I sit next to him.

" The IRS impounded it." I told him. Riley nodded. Ben set down his book.

" The IRS?" He asked.

" Funny story! My accountant set up a," He winked with a fake smile. " _Corporation_ on an island that didn't exist, and assured me that's how" He winked again. " _Rich_ people do it. Then I got audited, and then got slapped with a huge fine _plus _interest! Wanna know what the tax is on five million dollars?" Riley asked I turned to Ben and whispered,

" Six million dollars."

" Six million dollars!" Riley said. " But enough about me!" Riley said sitting down beside me, so I sat between him and Ben. " What's new with you?" He asked with a smile.

" Well, my girlfriend kicked me out, I'm living with my dad, and my family killed president Lincoln." Ben said. My eyes widened.

" Alright." Riley said.

" I need your help." Ben told him.

" Okay, he'll help you if you help us get this stuff inside and explain the whole 'my family killed president Lincoln thing!" I said standing.

" Of course." Ben said standing to assist me with the door and boxes of books. Once everything was inside, I sat down on the couch and looked at Ben.

" Do begin to explain." I said. Ben told us about a man named Wilkinson who had shown up to his lecture and came forward with one of the missing diary pages from the John Wilkes Booth diary, because he was related to him, and the page contained the names of the conspirators- as well as one of Ben's relatives, Thomas Gates.

" Oh my God…" I muttered, running a hand through my hair.

" So, you want my help to get into _your_ house?" Riley asked. Ben nodded. " Why not? It'll make today interesting."

" Mind if I tag along?" I asked.

" Not at all. We could use an extra eye." Ben said.

" Do you have a car?" Riley asked. We would have used mine, but my car had been sideswiped and was still getting fixed. And truth be told, I really wished whatever car had taken mine out, smashed it to pieces- I really began to hate that car.

" I do. I'll go pull it up." Ben said, leaving to get his car. Riley let his head fall against my shoulder.

" Tired?" I asked.

" Extremely so. Who knew walking about two and a half miles could be so exhausting." He said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and held him close, smoothing out his hair. Another thing I loved about being with Riley, is that we could sit in silence together, and be completely comfortable. However, that usually only happened when we were falling asleep, seeing as one of us usually had something to talk about, and we both just love to hear the other's voice.

We sat there for a moment till we heard Ben's car drive up. I released Riley as he grabbed his backpack that contained his laptop and other various electronics. We ran downstairs and jumped into Ben's car. The car ride was full of conversation. We hadn't talked to Ben in a few weeks- we didn't know why, till he just now when he explained that Abigail had kicked him out of the house.

When we pulled up to the massive house, we parked out back. It was now dark outside and no lights were on besides the one in what should be called the foyer.

" I can't believe you got kicked out of your own house!" Riley said as we walked quickly towards the door.

" I need Abigail's ID card, she has access to the Booth diary page." Ben said.

" Why don't you just ask for her help?" I asked.

" She changed the alarm code, Arabella! She's not gonna talk to me!" Ben told me.

" Guys!" Riley said as we walked over to the front doors, which were glass and wrought iron. " We'll have thirty seconds after the alert starts to stable the alarm." He explained. Ben unlocked the door.

" Go." He said pushing the door open. Riley pulled an object from his bag and rushed over to the alarm system on the yellow wall to the right of the door. Riley pulled the front off of the alarm box and plugged a small cord into the device in his hand.

" Now, I'm probably going to regret asking, what happened with you and Abigail?" Riley asked. I leaned against the staircase railing and watched Ben. He shook his head.

" I don't know, you know. I don't know. She began to use the word 'so' a lot." Ben told us.

" So?" Riley and I asked.

" Yeah, like, 'So, my opinion doesn't matter', 'So you seem to always know what's best!', 'So, I guess I'm invisible!'. So I've moved out and we're dividing the furniture." Ben told us. There was a triple beep and a green light flashed on the alarm system, signaling the code was accepted.

" Women." Riley said, placing the white cover back on. " Can't live with them, especially if they change the alarm codes." I looked over at him.

" You did that in twenty five seconds." Ben said glancing at his watch. He began walking up the steps.

" That's why I tell people to get a dog!" Riley said. I gasped and smacked his arm.

" Are you saying you'd rather have a dog?" I asked crossing my arms. Riley's eyes widened.

" No! No, no, no! You're the exception, Arabella. Trust me." Riley said, giving me a tight hug and a quick kiss. I smiled.

" I better be." I told him before running after Ben, Riley following. We ran up to Abigail's office and Ben switched on the lamp. He pulled a drawer open and looked inside.

" Got it." Ben said.

" Alright, let's go!" Riley said. We saw headlights and heard a car pull up front. We all walked over to the window. A black car pulled up.

" That's not Abigail's car." Ben said. A man got out of the driver's seat. " She's on a date."

" Isn't that the White House Curator, Connor?" I asked. Ben nodded. Riley peered over my shoulder and looked out the window. He laughed a bit.

" He's weird!" He said. I rolled my eyes and we saw Abigail and the White House Curator walking towards the front door. We rushed down another set of steps as Abigail and Connor walked up to the door.

" Wow, what a clever repartee! She must really like him." Riley said. I smacked his stomach and dragged him towards a room at the bottom of the stairs. We ran inside and shut the door. We stood there for a few seconds, hoping nothing too bad would happen. After a moment we heard Abigail call,

" Riley!" Riley wince. " Arabella, I know you're here too! Get out here!" Abigail called again. Together we walked out into the open.

" Oh! Hey!" Riley said with a smile. I smiled and waved to her. " What are you doing here?" He asked. " I mean it's your house, but- hey, I sent you a copy of my book, did you get a chance to-"

" No, I haven't read it yet." Abigail said. Riley sighed. He smiled again and pointed to Connor.

" I know you! You're the White House Curator!" Riley said walking up to shake hands with him. " I'm Riley, we met, uh…" Riley said beginning to think.

" Oh, yeah! Right! You're… Ben's assistant." Connor said.

" What?" Riley asked. I walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. He wasn't having a very good day.

" Um… maybe I should go." Connor said to Abigail.

" Yeah, I'm really-" She began.

" Dinner? Tomorrow?" Connor asked as they walked to the door. I could feel the awkwardness creep into the air as they began to set up another date, right in front of us.

" I, um, actually already have plans for tomorrow." Abigail said sheepishly.

" Oh, you do?" Ben asked, adopting Riley's monotone again. Abigail shot him an annoyed look.

" Of course you do." Connor said.

" _But_ I'm free on Friday." She said.

" Awkward!" Riley sang.

" Oh! Great!" Connor said with a smile. He leaned in and kissed Abigail's cheek. " Good night!"

" Good night." Abigail said as Connor departed. Abigail marched down the stairs towards Ben, handing her coat and purse to Riley, who took it clumsily.

" I _cannot_ believe you broke in!" She reprimanded Ben. " What did you take?" She asked, opening the box in his arms.

" It's nothing just some-" Abigail yanked the box away and held out her hand.

" Give it back, Ben." She said. He let out a breath and slapped it back into her hand.

" I need to see the Booth diary page." He told her.

" You saw the page yourself! _There's no treasure map on it_!" She told him. This sounded oddly familiar.

" It's a cipher leading to a map, did anyone spectral image the page?" He inquired.

" No need to! The ink writing is clearly visible!" She insisted, continuing to walk into the house. We all followed her.

" It could have been erased! Or faded! You're the _Director_ of Document Conservation, you know all this!" Ben said.

" It's not up to me, it's not my department." Abigail reminded him.

" That department reports to your department!" Ben said. She sighed. " Abigail, one look under infared." He stopped walking. She didn't stop. " You can have the Boston Tea Tables." Abigail froze. She turned around and raised an eyebrow. She asked,

" Both of them?"

_**Afterword: There's chapter two! =D Hope you liiiked it! Sorry I didn't post last night! I got to see **Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows **for the second time. I LOVE THAT MOVIE SO MUCH! =D If you haven't seen it, I SUGGEST YOU DO. My friend and I both say that we're like Sherlock Holmes and Watson, therefore, one of my nicknames is actually Watson. Tee hee! =D**_

_** Okay, I would like to thank my reviewers:**_ HeraOfTheStars, That AspiringAuthor, Hawk's-GaL4077, Phillipfan24, _**and**_ PirateJediNinjaFairyHatPerson. _**THANKS FOR REVIEWING! I'm glad you guys liked the first chapter! I had hoped to post two chapters today, but I got an optical migraine and had to rest for a bit till it went away. Third chapter will be up tomorrow! If I'm lucky, I'll be able to write chapter four tomorrow too! Thanks again for reading! REVIEWS WOULD BE LOVED! Thanks!**_

_**~ Mary**_


	3. Chapter Three: Laboulaye!

_Disclaimer: I do not own either of the National Treasure movies or any of the characters. I only own Arabella. _

Chapter Three: Laboulaye! 

" We've been looking at this page for _hours_." Riley said. We were staring at an image of the Booth diary page, as it was being spectral imaged. " There's nothing there." He told us. We were all exhausted. I ran a hand through my now messy hair and sighed. Ben removed his glasses and sighed.

" Ben, I _really_ don't think we're going to find anything on this page." Abigail said. She was sitting in front of the computer monitor with us standing behind her.

" Well look at it this way! In a hundred years, no one's gonna remember anyone involved in the Lincoln assassination besides Booth." Riley said.

" That's not true." Ben said. " Do you know the expression 'His name is Mudd'?" Ben asked.

" Yes, of course." Riley said.

" Do you know the origin of the expression?" He asked.

" Does… _anyone_ but you?" Riley asked.

" Doctor Samuel _Mudd_ was convicted of being a co-conspirator in the Lincoln assassination." I began to explain. " You see, the evidence was circumstantial and was later pardoned, but it didn't matter. Mudd's name still lives in infamy."

" And I will _not_ let Thomas Gates' name be Mudd." Ben said. Riley nodded.

" Ben…" Abigail said.

" What?" He asked.

" Look at this." She said pointing to a deep brown splotch on the page.

" Oh…" Ben murmured. " That's quite something, isn't it?"

" Yeah… it's a smudge." Riley muttered. We all gave him a look. " It's nothing!"

" Residual ink on the facing page," I said.

" Flip it over." Ben instructed. Abigail quickly flipped the page over. " The letters are backwards." On the back of the page were sets of letters. " It's a cipher." Ben said with a smile.

" It is!" I said in shock.

" A cipher!" Ben said with a smile, putting his glasses on. " See how the letters are coupled? Playfair Ciphers encode letters in pairs! _This_ could prove his story!"

" Unless you decode the cipher, this _does not_ prove your theory." Abigail said.

" That's okay, that's okay! All we need is a five letter key word." Ben told us.

" What's the key word?" Riley asked.

" I don't know yet." He admitted.

" Alrighty then." I said. " Please tell me we aren't going to have to bribe a little kid again." Riley chuckled.

" No, you won't. Can I uh… get a print out of this?" Ben asked Abigail. She sighed and began to print a copy.

" There are millions of words in the English language. There's gotta be a… logical… start from the beginning! AR… Aardvark?" Riley suggested.

" You know, I don't want to rain on your parade here, Ben," Abigail said walking over to a printer. " But, uh, I don't think this is going to stop Dr. Nickel from announcing the discovery of the page tomorrow."

" No, no, wait! Can't you just… _ask_ for them to wait till I prove Thomas is innocent?" Ben pleaded, walking over to Abigail. Riley sat down in the computer chair and began to read over the letter pairs.

" What if he _isn't_ innocent?" Abigail shot back. That made even _me_ wince at the painful sting it left behind. Ben stood there dumbfounded as Abigail handed him the print out before walking back towards the computer.

" Hey, Riley? I'm going to go with Ben to start the car. Meet us out front in a moment." I told Riley. He looked up at me and nodded. I took Ben by the arm and we began to walk out towards the door. " You doing okay?" I asked as I looked at the shocked and upset look on his face. He shook his head slightly and shrugged.

" I don't know…" He muttered. I sighed.

" If it's about what Abigail said, I'm going to tell you right know, I _know_ he's innocent, okay? I remember your dad telling us that story over and over again. I know that Thomas Gates didn't conspire to kill Lincoln. So what we're going to do is that we are going to prove his innocence together, no matter what it takes. No matter what it takes, okay? You, Riley, Patrick and I. We will prove Thomas's innocence." I told Ben as we made our way outside and over to his car. We stopped by the car and he turned and smiled at me.

" Okay. You sure you want to do this? You could be ridiculed and called crazy." Ben said, taking a slight difference to that deal we made when we were teenagers, when I agreed to help find the Templar Treasure.

" I'm sure. I don't care if people call me crazy, I don't care how long it takes, I will help you, I swear." I said holding out a hand. He grinned and shook it. I gave him a hug. " Feeling a bit better?" I asked.

" I am." He told me. " But now we need to get some rest before we begin to decode the cipher." He let go and got into the driver's seat and I yawned and got into the back seat, curling up and shutting my eyes. I only intended to shut my eyes for a moment, but before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

OOOO

I awoke to the sound of a door being closed. I slowly opened my eyes, and found myself in Riley's arms. I blinked a few times and the lights in our apartment went on, seeing as Riley used his elbow to flip the light switch.

" You didn't have to carry me." I commented. Riley looked down at me and chuckled.

" But you looked so peaceful." He said. I rolled my eyes.

" I can walk now." I told him. He thought a moment and shook his head.

" Nah, your legs are probably still asleep." Riley told me. I shook my head and laughed as he walked into our room and set me onto the bed. I flopped onto my stomach and switched the lamps by the bed on, and then pulled my shoes off. I grabbed my pair of knee length blue plaid pajama pants and a purple tank top. It was April, just getting warm, but not cold enough anymore to allow long pajama pants and long sleeved shirts. I changed into my pajamas and then flopped onto the bed, hugging the pillow.

I sighed happily and let myself relax. I felt Riley get into bed beside me and I released the pillow and rolled over to hug him. Riley was always my pillow- ever since that day in the car, waking up in each other's arms; I found him the most comfortable thing to sleep on. Before I completely relaxed I shut off the lights and then pulled Riley's glasses off, setting them on the bed stand. Riley kissed my forehead.

" Thanks." He said. I smiled and snuggled into his chest.

" Any time, Riley." I told him. Riley smiled and pulled the blankets around us, wrapping his arms around me. I smiled and kissed his jawbone before resting my head against his shoulder and shutting my eyes. Riley had drifted off to sleep just before me, and just as I slipped into sleep as well, I couldn't help but feel this whole 'cipher on in the Booth diary' thing was going to turn out bigger than it seemed.

ooOoo

The next morning I got up earlier than I wanted to, from the late night before, but I actually had work so I sort of had to wake up early. I took a hot shower and then quietly snuck into the bedroom again, trying not to wake Riley up. I grabbed a black button down shirt and kahki pants. I honestly didn't quite care for the uniform, but it had to be warm. I shoved another outfit into a bag, got dressed and grabbed my converse and snuck back out into the kitchen.

I grabbed something to eat, which was a muffin and a glass of milk, and wrote a quick note to Riley. I told him there was still a muffin left for him and that I'd probably be home from work around five (seeing as I now had to walk home) and that I'd pick up something for dinner on the way home.

I yawned as I walked out of the apartment, and began to walk down the street. It was still fairly cool out and the sun hadn't exactly decided to shine too brightly yet. I let my mind drift as I walked. I began to think about the cipher. What if it really _did_ lead to another treasure? But what treasure would that be? It could be _anything_. Those thoughts stuck to me through out the day, and it was hard to focus on what I was actually doing.

OOOO

By the time I began to walk home, I was exhausted. My feet hurt from standing around all day, and they were beginning to scream in pain as I started my walk home. I was maybe a block away from the Smithsonian when a silver car pulled up to the side of the road.

" Hey! Arabella!" A familiar voice called. I stopped and looked at the car, seeing a co-worker of mine in the driver's seat. I smiled a bit and waved.

" Hey, Jackson." I said. I had known Jackson since I started working at the Smithsonian, and he was a pretty good friend, but he'd been getting too nosy lately, and it was getting annoying.

" Do you need a ride?" He asked. I was about to decline when I realized I could feel a blister forming on my right foot. I sighed.

" Yeah. Yeah I do." I said. He grinned.

" Great! I'll drive you home!" He said. I got into the passenger seat and he pulled back onto the street. Jackson talked most of the car ride, mostly about the museum, and then he started asking me questions about how my life was going. I answered short and quick, just wanting to get out of the car. He began asking about Riley, and I immediately sighed with relief as we pulled up in front of my apartment.

" Thanks for the ride, see you tomorrow, have a nice night, bye!" I said quickly, jumping out of the car and running into the apartment. I sighed with relief as I dropped my bag onto the floor.

" Who drove you home?" I heard Riley ask. I looked up to see Riley standing by the window.

" Jackson, from work. You know, short red hair, green eyes." I told him with as I pulled out a pair of blue jeans and a plain black v-neck t-shirt.

" Why'd he take you home?" He asked. I gave Riley a confused look.

" He saw I didn't have a car and he drove me home." I explained.

" Oh." He said as I walked into the bedroom and began to change.

" Yeah." I said tossing my uniform into the corner of the room. After I got changed I turned walked back into the living room and looked at him. He was staring at his feet, toying with a button on his black vest. I smiled a bit.

" Riley? Were you… jealous for some odd reason?" I asked. He looked quickly up at me.

" What? N-no! Of course not!" He said quickly. I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. I smirked.

" Yes you were. Tell me why." I said pulling him to sit on the couch with me. He sighed.

" He just… you know… seems like the kind of guy who would win over a girl. He's charming." He said.

" He's also been annoying the crap out of me for months. Riley, it's just like you said to me yesterday, you are the most handsome, adorable, _perfect_ man on Earth, you know that? And guess what? I love _you_ and _only you_. That won't change at all. Ever. I promise." I told him, smoothing out his messy hair. I smiled at him. He smiled back.

" I'm so lucky you love me." Riley whispered. I giggled quietly.

" No, _I'm_ lucky that _you_ love _me_." I told him. He grinned and pulled me closer to him, kissing me. I kissed back, and we sat like that for a while. I didn't realize I had ended up on his lap till we both heard someone say,

" Am I interrupting something?" We both pulled away from each other and saw Ben standing in the doorway. I had forgotten that we'd given him a key… Both of us blushed and quickly stood. Riley pulled his glasses on.

" Um, is it, uh, five twenty already?" Riley asked, rubbing the back of his head.

" Yeah. It is." Ben said, crossing his arms. I sighed quietly. He was always the big brother figure… He just made everything a bit awkward…

" Let's just start figuring the cipher out, hm? C'mon, lets go." I said making my way towards the stairs and the door.

OOOO

After two hours, we'd gotten into letter 'B'. I was pacing behind Ben, who stood behind Riley, who was sitting at a desk in Patrick's living room.

" Bacon." Riley said as he typed in the word. None of the cipher pairings worked.

" Keep going." Ben said.

" That's stupid…" Riley muttered, referring to the word of choice. Riley typed in 'Baron'. The next letter sets didn't match the cipher either. I looked over at Patrick, who was staring at a computer screen.

" How's he doing?" I asked. Ben gave me a sad look and walked over to Patrick, saying,

" Keep working." To Riley as he passed behind him. I could hear Patrick listening to a report on the Booth diary page. I sighed and gripped the back of Riley's chair.

" I feel so bad for him." I said.

" So do I." Riley agreed.

" He finally gets honor for his family name, and now, its just been taken away again…" I muttered. Riley typed in a few more words before he sighed and rested his chin against his palm.

" I am _not_ typing in random words hoping they'll work. No way." Riley muttered. I laughed quietly and kissed his hair, resting my chin on the top of his head. I heard Riley chuckle. We both waited for Ben to come back when we heard his excited voice say,

" Death!"

" What?" Riley asked, as if he misheard him.

" The key word! The Debt That All Men Pay is death!" Ben explained.

" Of course!" I muttered. We waited and watched as Riley typed in the word. The computer loaded and it matched. We had our letters.

" L, A, B, O, U, L… Lab.. Lab-oo? La-bow?" Riley sounded out. Lab- lab- i-it's gibberish." He stated.

" Laboulaye." Ben said.

" Laboulaye!" I said with a grin.

" Laboulaye!" Patrick agreed.

" Laboulaye!" Riley said with a grin and a tone of pure joy, throwing his hands up momentarily. He looked up at us, confusion clearly apparent on his face. " What is that?"

_**Afterword: CHAPTER THREE! WOO! =D Hope you liked ittttt! I would just like to point out, the character Jackson, is only in this story for this chapter, so we could see that Riley is like Arabella, and doesn't think he's good enough for her. He was jealous and worried, just like Arabella was with the two girls at the book signing. They're in love! =D I'd also like to add, I love it when Riley says 'Laboulaye! … What is that?' it so hilarious! XD **_

_** I'd like to now thank my reviewers:**_ Hawk's-GaL4077, _**and**_ Phillipfan24. _**THANKS FORREVIEWINGGGG! =D It made me happy! I would **__**love**__** to promise to get Chapter Four up tomorrow, but I can't, because it'll be a late night for me with all the homework and musical rehearsal and stuff like that. I hope I'll get to write tomorrow though! I LOVE WRITING THIS STORY SO MUCHHH! =D Anyway, reviews would be loved! Thanks! =D**_

_**~Mary**_


	4. Chapter Four: Here We Go Again

_Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movies or any of the characters. I only own Arabella._

Chapter Four: Here We Go Again

" It's a who!" I exclaimed happily, answering Riley's question.

" Edward Laboulaye. Where's the phone?" Ben asked.

" I don't know, son, I can't find _anything _in this mess." Patrick said gesturing to all the boxes and paintings as Ben began to search for the phone.

" It's temporary till I find a new place." Ben said, leaving the room.

" Find the old one! I like _her_!" Patrick called after him. Riley chuckled and Patrick sighed as Ben grumbled and continued his search for the house phone. I sat beside Riley and rested my head against his shoulder.

" And here we go again." I said. He chuckled and kissed my forehead. Patrick turned around and looked at us.

" How is it you two are still together, but Ben and Abigail aren't?" He asked.

" Well, for starters, I don't question everything she says." Riley said.

" It's true." I said with a smile.

" If only Ben could be more agreeable!" Patrick muttered. I laughed and hugged Riley's arm, already feeling tired.

" Found it!" Ben called from the kitchen. We all turned around as Ben walked into the hall. He dialed a number. " We cracked the cipher!" We heard him say. " It's Laboulaye. The cipher spells Laboulaye." Ben said. There was a pause. " _Or maybe_ there was a treasure map like _Thomas Gates said there was_," Ben protested as he walked back into the dinning room, to look at the computer. " and Laboulaye had it. We only have parts of the next word. L, A, D. Lad, ladder-"

" Aladdin! Aladdin?" Riley asked as Patrick began to jot things down on a piece of paper. I stifled laughter and shook my head.

" No, Riley, no." I said. He shrugged.

" Worth a try." He said.

" Thank you, Abigail!" Ben said. We all looked at him. " Laboulaye Lady. Do you know what Laboulaye was planning just around the time of the Lincoln assassination?" Ben asked, walking into the kitchen. Riley and I stood. " There's a _map_ or clue leading _to a map_ on the Statue-" Ben tried to finish but he brought the phone away from his ear and looked at us. " She hung up!" He said.

" She took your call!" Patrick told him.

" That's _always_ a good sign." I told him. " Trust me, as a girl, I should know." Riley walked into the kitchen, smiling.

" Are you telling me there's a treasure map on the Statue of Liberty?" Riley asked, just about grinning now. I smiled and stood next to him.

" Laboulaye was a Mason. They built clues into everything." Patrick told us.

" Did you learn that from my book?" Riley asked hopefully. Patrick said nothing. Riley gave a slight nod and a fake smile.

" So the question is, which Statue of Liberty." I said. Riley lightly slapped the kitchen counter.

" _Exactly_." He paused a moment. " Is there more than one?" He asked.

" There are _three_ actually, Riley." Patrick said.

" One is in New York, one in the Luxemburg Garden." I said

" But there's only _one_ he called his Lady." Ben said. I smiled and nodded.

" Only one." I repeated. Riley smiled and laughed for a second.

" Which one?" He asked. I looked at him.

" It's in Paris, France." I told him. His eyes widened.

" So… We're going to France?" He asked.

" Only way to find the map or the clue." Ben told him. " We should leave as soon as possible. Could you buy us some tickets, Riley?" Ben asked.

" Of course!" Riley said. " How soon would soon be?" He asked.

" Any time in the next couple of hours possibly?" Ben asked. Riley nodded and ran over to his computer.

" Well, Ben, I told you we were gonna clear Thomas's name, and we're well on the road to doing that!" I told Ben, leaning against the counter next to him. He smiled at me.

" Maybe I should listen to you more often." He said.

" That could be a good idea." I said. He chuckled and we heard Riley say,

" We can leave at eleven tonight."

" Let's get packing then." I said.

" I'll stay here- keep track of things in the States." Patrick said. We all nodded in agreement and Patrick let us borrow his car so Riley and I could return to our apartment and pack.

Riley, of course, packed just about every electronic thing possible as well as clothes and various other things, and it all fit into about four bags. I fit everything I needed in one and a carry-on bag. I laughed as I saw him struggle to get his bags into the car.

" Need help?" I asked. He gave me a look.

" No." He told me. I rolled my eyes.

" Okay then." I said getting into the passenger's seat. Seven minutes later, Riley climbed into the drivers seat. As he started the engine, he muttered.

" Not a word to Ben… not a word…." I giggled and nodded.

OOOO

The plane ride to Paris was long and boring. I re-read Riley's book again, still enjoying it, and let Riley sleep with his head against my shoulder. Ben had sat beside me, looking out the window at the passing clouds just about the whole time. I got some sleep as well, but Riley slept the _whole_ way.

When we arrived in Paris, we checked into a hotel room, showered, got dressed again, and set out to find the Laboulaye Lady. It was a beautiful day- the sun was shinning and from the bridge we were standing on, we could see the Eiffel tower, and we also got a pretty good view of the Statue of Liberty. Riley was holding a remote controlled helicopter that had a camera attached to it, and a monitor that would allow us to see what was on the statue.

As Riley began to fiddle with the controls, getting the helicopter into the air, Ben pulled on his sunglasses, which didn't seem to match with his suit jacket, button down and nice. Riley was wearing a pale purple button down with a plaid tie, back suit jacket and black suit pants. I had attempted to look equally as nice, dressing in a pale pink silk blouse and black and white striped slacks with, once again, my converse. My hair was loose around my shoulders and it was curling slightly as it dried. Ben and I watched in amazement as Riley maneuvered the helicopter around the statue.

" This is like _impossible_ what you're doing…" Ben muttered.

" I'm glad your enjoying it." Riley said with a smile.

" Laboulaye had to leave a clue _somewhere _on here." I said.

" Move in on the torch." Ben instructed.

" It's not as easy as it looks…" Riley muttered, trying not to bump into the statue.

" _Excusez-moi, monsieur._" We heard a voice say. Ben and I turned around to see two cops on bikes. "_Pourriez-vous vastant_?" Ben and I both began to cross the street on the bridge. We both looked at each other and shrugged.

" Excuse me, Officer, may I help you?" Ben asked. We walked over to them.

" Ah. American, eh?" The police officer asked with a thick French accent. " Of course you see no problem in disturbing everyone's _pleasant_ morning with your _buzzing_ there." He said looking pointedly at the helicopter Riley was still using.

" Hey, do you know how much our Constitution was influenced by your man Montesquieu?" I asked, smiling at the two men.

" You know Montesquieu?" The officer asked with disbelief, a small smile drawing on his face.

" _Oui_, Montesquieu!" I said smiling more.

" Our government should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another!" Ben and the officer said together, both smiling. " _Oui!_" Ben said.

" Very good!" The officer said.

" Ben! Arabella!" Riley said, jogging over, holding the helicopter. " I got it! I got it!" Riley handed the small monitor to us. " I hope you read French…"

" May I?" The officer asked. Ben nodded and handed it to him.

" Ben, _he's a cop_." Riley muttered to him. Ben gave him a look.

" Um… 'Across the sea, these twins stand'… um… determined?" He asked the other officer.

" Resolute." The other man said.

" 'Resolute to preserve what we are looking for.' Laboulaye, eighteen seventy-six." He finished. Riley took the monitor back.

" It's a clue!" Riley said.

" 'These twins stand resolute'… let's see… resolute twins…" Ben said, beginning to pace and think. " Resolute… Resolute… and then twins." He leaned against a support beam. " Siamese twins? Siam? _Trade routes_ between France and Thai Lands? But th-that's ridiculous." Ben said. Something popped into my head. I jumped a bit and pointed to Ben.

" The HMS Resolute!" I said excitedly, grinning. Ben smiled and began to talk to the officers.

" A British ship that got lost in the arctic, in the eighteen hundreds. It was salvaged by American whalers, only congress sent it back to England. When the ship was finally retired, Queen Victoria had _two desks _made from its timbers. Wha-la! Resolute twins!" Ben said, all of it directed to the French officers. Riley and I glanced at each other.

" Well, where are those desks now?" The man asked.

" The, uh, closest one is in London. Uh, Riley, how fast can we get to Buckingham Palace?" Ben asked Riley. Riley shrugged.

" I don't know, why don't you ask your new best friend." Ben gave him a look. Riley sighed. " It would be faster to fly, lets just put it that way." The Officer said something to his partner in French then said,

" He's going to call you a cab." He smiled at us.

" _Merci beaucoup._" I said smiling back. The officer looked at Riley, then at the helicopter he held.

" Nice helicopter, is it yours?" He asked.

" Yes, actually, it is." Riley said.

" So you get the ticket!" He said cheerfully.

" Ha, ha! _Great!_" Riley said sarcastically as he gave a fake smile and laugh. After Riley received his ticket and the cab arrived, we returned to our hotel, Riley ranting about his ticket the whole time. We grabbed our stuff, then went to the airport _again_ and flew all the way to London.

We were all exhausted, and as we took a cab to the Savoy hotel, I stared out at the cloudy sky. I yawned and almost fell asleep, but Riley pulled me into his arms, and he decided to start a conversation. I was grateful that he kept me awake- I knew I was going to have to stay awake for a while. It was only early evening.

As we walked into the hotel I looked at Ben and Riley.

" So, are we all going to share a room?" I asked. Both looked at me. Ben shook his head with a small smile and a calm 'no.' Riley gave a quick and loud 'no!', which made me laugh. Riley looked over at Ben who raised an eyebrow.

" What? I can't want to share a room with my girlfriend?" Riley asked. Ben rolled his eyes and shook his head.

" I'll go check us in okay?" I asked, leaving the two to stand in the middle of the lobby. I decided to just rent out a suite for the next two days- it was a two-bedroom suite that had a view of the Thames. The woman at the front desk appeared surprised I could afford the room, but I got the room keys and walked back over to Riley and Ben. I held up the keys.

" Shall we go?" I asked. We went up to the fourth floor and entered the suite.

" Who-ho-ho!" Riley said as he looked around. " This is nice!"

" Better than anywhere I've ever stayed! I said smiling. Ben set his bags down.

" So, we need to figure out how to get into the Queen's office. Riley, could you pull up something on the Buckingham Palace?" Ben asked. Riley laughed.

" Of course I can! Let me just get out of these clothes." Riley muttered. I laughed and plopped down into a chair. Ben sat beside me as Riley began to set things up.

" I can't believe we're doing this again." Ben said.

" Hey, it makes life exciting, and I've always loved excitement." I said with a yawn, leaning back in my seat.

" Okay, give me a minute…" Riley muttered. " And here… we… go."

_**Afterword: CHAPTER FOUR! =D Hope you liked it! Sorry I didn't get to post sooner, my life is like a tornado of stress and music related stuff- I have a paper due Thursday, midterms in two weeks and musical rehearsal for about three hours every day after school. Fun! So, I would now like to thank my reviewers: **_HeraOfTheStars, _**and**_ Hawk's-GaL4077. _**Thanks for reviewing! And I'd like to thank those who **__**do**__** read this and don't review. I'm just glad people read my stories! XD Anyway, I hope to get the next chapter up tomorrow, but if I don't, I advise you not to panic. XD I sound like the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy now. XD Anyway, REVIEWS ARE LOVED! Thanks! =D**_

_**~Mary**_


	5. Chapter Five: Time To Make A Scene!

_Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movies or any of the characters. I only own Arabella._

Chapter Five: Time To Make A Scene!

We all took the next fifteen minutes to change into more comfortable clothes- Ben was now wearing a grey sweater and blue jeans, Riley wore a deep grey t-shirt under a pale blue open button down and jeans, and I wore a simple black tank-top and a pair of blue sweat pants. Riley was clicking around on his computer, pulling up documents and maps with ease. Ben stood behind him and I sat next to him at the table, handing him a can of soda, and one to Ben as well.

Riley pulled up a digital floor plan of Buckingham Palace, and he was trying to figure out ways into the Queen's office.

" Okay, so," Riley said gesturing to the screen, as the view of the palace flipped so it was a side view. " The Queen's office is here." Riley pointed to an outlined room in red and that was marked 'PRIVATE'. " The elevator shaft gets you close, but the only direct access… is through security." Riley told Ben.

" Well that should be exciting." Ben muttered.

" Mm-hmm." I hummed in agreement.

" Yeah, we've gotta get out of that room…" Riley muttered as Ben's phone rang.

" Hi, Dad." Ben said, answering the phone. After a pause Ben said, " Call the police, I'm coming home." His voice was panicked and his face was worried. Riley and I looked at each other before turning and looking at Ben.

" What happened?" I asked. There was another pause as Patrick spoke.

" O-okay, we're in London. We're going to Buckingham Palace. We have an appointment with the curator tomorrow afternoon." Ben told him. Wait. Appointment?

" Appointment?" I asked Riley and he shrugged.

" Bye." Ben said hanging up. " Someone else is after the treasure."

" _Of course_ someone else is after the treasure!" I said

" It's the _axiom_ of treasure hunting." Riley added.

" We have to hurry and see that desk." Ben said.

" We don't want to miss that appointment…" Riley muttered.

" Okay, so that was a lie. I don't think my father would be too happy about us breaking into the Queen's office." Ben told us.

" Well, technically we're _sneaking_." I corrected with a smile. Ben rolled his eyes as Riley said,

" She's right. That's the whole reason for the careful planning of how to get into the office." He gestured to the screen. Ben nodded.

" So, why were you going to go home?" I asked.

" Someone broke into my dad's house last night and attacked him." Ben told us.

" What!" Riley and I both exclaimed at the same time.

" Is he okay?" Riley asked.

" He's fine, they surprisingly didn't take anything." Ben said.

" I guess that would make sense if they were just looking for something that pertained to the treasure." I said, sipping at my own soda. Ben nodded and began to pace.

Needless to say, the rest of our afternoon was taken up with planning, and that stretched into early evening. We ordered dinner from room service and Ben went to bed early, shutting the doors to his bedroom tightly behind him.

Riley and I sat on the small couch together, finishing up our dinner.

" I can't believe we're doing this again." Riley said. I laughed quietly, leaning against his chest.

" Neither can I- but face it, this hotel is nicer than Patrick's car." I pointed out. Riley laughed.

" Not too sure, I enjoyed waking up with you snuggled against me." Riley said, kissing my head. I giggled.

" Yes, but you wake up like that every morning now." I told him resting my head against his shoulder, looking up at him. He smiled down at me and pulled me closer. I smiled back, leaning in and kissing him. He happily returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck, sliding one hand into his soft brown hair. After a moment Riley pulled back a bit.

" Remind me again why Ben's room is like forty feet away from ours?" Riley asked breathlessly. I laughed quietly for a short moment.

" Because it was easier to rent out one suite then two rooms." I explained.

" Good point, but it does have its disadvantages." Riley pointed out, kissing me again, after another moment I muttered,

" Hm… I'm beginning to think that's true…" Riley pulled me onto his lap.

" But sometimes life isn't fair." Riley told me.

" Yes, but sometimes we have to make life fair." I replied, playing with his hair. He grinned at me.

" This is one of the reasons I love you, Arabella." Riley said happily. He stood, picking me up and he carried me off to our room, shutting and locking the door behind us.

OOOO

The next morning I sleepily shuffled to the bedroom door, opening it and walking out into the small living area. I was wearing my blue silk bathrobe, having been too lazy to get completely dressed, and was going to retrieve my sweater from the couch. I saw Ben sitting on the couch, watching the local news on the flat-screen TV. I tied the sash to my bathrobe around my waist and went to grab my sweater, which was now on the table, neatly folded (probably by Ben). Ben looked up at me as I grabbed my sweater.

" Good morning." He said. I smiled at him and nodded.

" Good morning." I replied. There was a moment of silence where the awkward was palpable. " Sleep well?" I finally asked.

" I did. The beds are comfortable. Did you sleep well?" Ben asked, an eyebrow raised. I felt heat rise to my cheeks, and knew I was blushing. I stuttered a moment, rubbing the back of my neck.

" Yeah. I did. I'll be out in a moment." I said before quickly rushing back into my room, shutting the door. I let my head smack against the door. " God, That was embarrassing…" I muttered. Riley was asleep still, hugging a puffy pillow, the blankets tangled around his legs. I smiled at him and went to my suitcase, searching for an outfit to wear to Buckingham Palace. I found a nice black lace v-neck blouse and a grey pencil skirt that came down to my knees and figured it would do just fine. I took a quick shower and then dried my hair, before walking back into the bedroom to get dressed.

Riley had woken up some time during my shower and he was just buttoning up his shirt. He looked over at me and smiled widely.

" Good morning, love." He said, pulling me close and kissing the top of my head.

" Good morning." I said smiling back. " Well, I faced a bucket load of awkward this morning." I told him beginning to get dressed.

" Why?" He asked, beginning to tie his tie.

" Let's see…" I said pretending to think a moment. " Oh, that's right, I went to go get my sweater from the sitting room, and Ben was watching the news. He asked if I slept well, and gave me that big-brother look." I said pulling the blouse on. Riley paused.

" I have a feeling I'll get that look times ten." Riley said. I laughed.

" Probably, but don't worry. You'll survive." I said leaning over and kissing his cheek before pulling the skirt on. I still hated wearing things like pencil skirts, seeing as they fit my body a bit too tightly, and I still wasn't all that confident with my looks, but I could never say anything about it because Riley would cut me off and give me a speech about how I shouldn't feel bad about myself, and that usually ended up with a large hug. I grabbed a pair of one-inch heels and opened the door. I plopped down at the table, yawning. Ben was sitting across from me, eating the breakfast he'd ordered for us all from room service.

I smiled at him and began to eat. Riley came out, dressed nicely and with his glasses on. He smiled at Ben and nodded to him in means of 'good morning'. Ben nodded back.

" How'd you sleep?" Ben asked.

" Good, I slept really good. Comfy beds." Riley told him. He glanced up to look at him, and just like he suspected, Ben was giving him the big-brother 'we'll talk about this later' look, that he'd been using on Riley more and more after we'd started dating.

" Ben, I think you can actually start saying 'we'll talk about this later'. The look will just add to how much you mean it." I pointed out. He looked at me.

" Oh, good." He looked at Riley. " We'll talk about this later." He said before handing Riley a plate of food with a pleasant smile. Riley carefully took it, and the rest of breakfast was consumed as we talked about our plans.

Somewhere around noon, we took a cab to Buckingham Palace and then pushed our way through the crowd to get to the gates. Riley had once again given us microphones and earpieces so we could hear each other talk- it was the National Archives Gala all over again.

" Hi." Ben said walking over to a guard. He talked to him for a moment and he gave Ben directions to the curator's office- Ben explained he actually _did_ make an appointment with him, we just weren't going to keep it. The crowd on the inside of the palace was huge. The walls were gold wallpaper, and everything had at least one piece of gold on it. We walked up stairs and Riley handed us the box with the earpieces.

" I'll go set things up in the bathroom downstairs." Riley told us. We both nodded and walked off to the side towards a table while Riley descended the stairs. Ben pulled out a bottle of what looked like some sort of alcohol and set on the table along with the box. We each put the small earpieces into our ears and looked around, hoping no one was getting suspicious. Ben took the bottle, opened it and dabbed it on his hand- it was most definitely whisky. He dabbed it on his tongue and then some on his neck.

" How do I smell?" He asked. I took a breath in through my nose and then scrunched it up.

" Like you've been drinking." I said with a smile.

" Good!" Ben replied, smiling back. " Shall we go make some trouble?" I grinned even more.

" Lets!" I agreed. We began to walk down the stairs when we spotted a familiar blond.

" Ben! Arabella!" Abigail said. She walked up to us with a smile.

" Abigail!" We said in unison with matching tones of shock.

" Abigail?" Riley's voice asked through the earpieces. " What's she doing here?"

" What are you doing here?" Ben asked. Abigail smiled at him.

" Your dad called me. Said your next clue was here." She explained.

" Patrick…" I muttered quietly.

" She's really there?" Riley asked.

" Listen, Ben." Abigail said, touching Ben's shoulder as he glanced around.

" Drop her!" Riley insisted. " Loose her!"

" Well, that's very nice, but it's kind of a bad time right now." Ben said.

" A bad time right now?" Abigail asked, her smile now gone.

" It's a bad time." Ben told her again.

" Okay, I just _flew all the way to London_ to offer my help, and what now? You don't need it?" Abigail scoffed.

" Guys, remember the plan!" Riley said. We were all talking in hushed tones and I began to worry. What if we couldn't pull this off any more?

" You're the one who's making the scene right now." Ben said.

" I… I am _not _making a scene right now!" Abigail said, her voice rising.

" No, we _want_ to make a scene." Riley said. I smiled to myself a moment and then took my opportunity.

" Well, then _FINE_! It you two are going to be like this the rest of the time, why don't you have it out right now!" I yelled, my voice echoing around the palace lobby. Abigail stared at me in shock.

" Ah, so subtle." Riley said with what sounded like amusement.

" Let me guess, _IT'S THE WRONG TIME!_" Ben shouted to Abigail. She looked at us like we were crazy.

" Ben-" Abigail tried, but was cut off by more of our ranting.

" It's the wrong place! I'm wrong _again_!" Ben shouted more, beginning to stomp down the steps, lifting his knees up to exaggerated heights and he swung his arms around like he was marching. " Wrong about us! Wrong about Thomas Gates! Wrong that you'd like the Queen Anne chair!" Ben shouted, jumping to a landing and pointing to Abigail. I marched after him, and Abigail began to slowly walk down getting sucked into the partial reality of the fight.

" You're wrong to _assume_ I'd like the chair!" She corrected.

" You see? You see, everybody, look at this!" Ben said as we both rushed down to a tour group that was one of many frozen in shock, staring at us. They were all looking at a very ornate antique vase.

" This is more interesting than that!" I said as Ben and I wrapped our arms around two random people.

" She thinks that, even when I'm right, I'm wrong!" Ben said angrily, looking quite like an angry drunk. We both released the poor confused tourists. " Isn't that right? Abigail, just because I answer a question quickly, doesn't make it wrong." Abigail came down beside us.

" Not if the right answer is something we need to figure out together, as a couple, that's what couples do, Ben!" Abigail yelled. Wow… this was turning into an actual fight. A security guard came up to Ben.

" Sir, your missus and your friend need to take it outside." He said.

" Oh! _Now_ look what you've done!" I said with a mock glare to Abigail.

" You've brought the little Bobbies down on us! _You_ take the two outside, I'm staying outside. I'm staying right here." Ben said running to the banister.

" Ben!" Abigail complained.

" Whee!" Ben called out as he jumped onto the banister and began to slide down. He was stopped when another 'Bobby' grabbed his arm.

" Good afternoon, sir." He said to Ben with a smile that looked polite, but was obviously annoyed.

" 'Ello!" Ben said with a big grin and a horrible and cheesy fake British accent. The man leaned in and sniffed.

" Been drinking have we?" He asked.

" Just a nip! Just popped down to the pub for a pint! Bit of alright! Going to rest a man for that? Gonna detain a blighter for enjoying his whis-KEY!" Ben said, comically bringing the work 'key' up an octave higher. I had to contain my laughter.

" Alright, that's enough." The man said, beginning to look more pissed off. I pleaded Ben with my eyes to do something even more stupid and insulting.

" Bangers and Mash." Ben said. The man looked at him confused. " Bubbles and squid! Smoked eel pie!"

" Sir?" The man asked, clearly getting upset and fed up with him.

" HAGGIS!" Ben shouted. That appeared to be the last straw.

" That's it! Dismount the banister!" He yanked Ben off the banister and Ben laughed for a moment.

" I've got a loverly bunch of coconuts!" Ben began to sing. " Here they are a-standing in a row!" Guards came and grabbed Abigail and I as well as Ben and began to drag us away. Abigail and I both fought against the hands, but even if we really did want to get free, it wouldn't happen- those guys were _strong_.

" Small ones, big ones, SOME AS BIG AS YOUR HEAD!" Ben continued to sing as we were dragged towards security.

" That. Was. _Brilliant._" Riley complimented. I had to smile.

Ben and Abigail continued to complain as we were brought through security and I would through in comments everyone once in a while like 'Shut up!' or 'You're giving everyone a headache!' and the thing was, all of those comments were beginning to become even more true.

" What's wrong with being right?" Ben asked as we walked through a metal detector.

" Nothing, you should try it sometime, Ben!" Abigail said.

" Oh, so you're saying I'm always wrong?" Ben asked incredulously.

" No, I-"

" Hoooooo! So I'm wrong again!" He said in a drunken manor.

" You see, there you are correct!" She complimented.

" Capital! Topper!" I commented.

" You're mother told me about you!" Abigail said to Ben. They continued to argue, as we were led down a hall, and I made a note to myself to retrieve some Asprin later. We walked up to a holding cell that contained boxes and a table and a chair. The man waved a key card in front of a sensor and the door opened.

" In here please." He said as we all walked in, still arguing. After a moment of loud arguing he shouted " Oi! You two love-birds and your friend stay put, right!" He shut the door and it automatically locked.

" No! No, man, don't leave me in here!" Ben shouted after him, grabbing the grates.

" Great. Wow." I heard Riley mutter. I chuckled and sat on the table.

" Glad we don't argue like that?" I asked. I heard Riley chuckle.

" _So_ glad." He replied.

" _What is going on_?" Abigail asked us.

" I'm sorry we got you roped into this, but you were excellent back there!" Ben complimented Abigail. " You too, Arabella." I smiled.

" Why thank you. You weren't too bad yourself Mr. Drunkard." I teased. " Great use of your over-acting skills you acquired in the eighth-grade musical." Ben rolled his eyes. I grinned.

" Musical?" Riley asked.

" Tell you about it later." I said.

" When did you figure out it was a fake argument?" Ben asked curiously.

" When did you figure out I was really arguing in the fake argument?" She asked.

" Right in the middle there, the 'I assume I always right'." Ben said using air quotations. " Riley, get us out of here! Which, I don't get, because if I am right after I assume I'm right… I'm correct, yes?"

" When you get to a conclusion, without asking, and you _happen_ to be right, you got lucky." Abigail said Ben and I glanced at each other.

" In that case, Arabella and I get lucky a lot." Ben commented. I nodded.

" Yeah." I agreed.

" Where does that leave me, Ben?" She asked, sitting beside me.

" You guys are _so_ great together." Riley commented with a slight amount of sarcasm.

" So, you want to know why we're here?" He asked.

" Uh huh!" She said, nodding. Ben leaned forward to whisper in Abigail's ear with his hands behind his back.

" I believe there may be a clue on the Resolute desk in the Queen's study." He told her, laughing a bit. She looked at him in shock. " Does that help?" He asked backing up.

" I just don't understand why it's _so_ difficult for you to include others in your decisions." Abigail said. I opened my mouth. " Not including you, Arabella." I shut my mouth. " _Just because_ you may know what my answer is going to be, doesn't mean you don't have to ask me."

" Door number one, opening." Riley told us in a monotone as there was a buzz and a click as the door opened. Ben opened the door, then stopped, facing us.

" Okay. Let me try this out." He said. " Arabella, Abigail, would you like to come with me, please?"

" Yes." We both said.

" Thank you." Abigail said smiling.

" Ridiculous! You're _both_ staying here, it's too dangerous." Ben told us. I gaped at him and began to sputter. He did _not_ just tell me to stay here!

" We are _so _coming!" Abigail said as we both followed Ben down the hall.

" Door two." Ben said.

" Door number two, coming up." Riley told us as the door buzzed and unlocked again.

" You two aren't coming!" Ben said holding out his arm.

" Call security!" I said with a smirk. We walked out the door and looked around.

" You should be near a service elevator." Riley said. Ben grabbed a vase of pink flowers. We gave him a confused look.

" What are you doing?" I asked.

" Are those for the Queen?" Abigail asked sarcastically. Ben made a beeline towards the dumbwaiter.

" The Queen isn't here. There's no flag flying." I explained as Ben opened the dumbwaiter doors and urged me inside. I scrunched up against the back as he slid in.

" Queen's at Windsor." Ben finished for me. Huh, looks like he's more willing to let me come than for Abigail to come.

" Ben, what are you doing?" Abigail asked.

" I'm going to go see the desk, without you, bye-bye!" He said trying to shut the doors. Abigail stopped him.

" No." She said.

" No, no, no! Don't let her go!" Riley told us.

" Abigail-" Ben began but we heard a click as a door unlocked. " Alright, get in. Get in. _Get in!_" Ben whisper-shouted. Abigail climbed in and took the flowers as Ben hit a button to make the dumbwaiter move. He shut the doors and we began to move upward.

We all sat in an awkward silence for a moment.

" Well," I said. " What an exciting morning!"

_**Afterword: OH MY GOD. I am SO SORRY I haven't been able to update lately! I thought with the long weekend that I had I'd be able to write, but for some reason it was busy and I barely got to write! But I FINALLY got this chapter up! Thank God! I must admit that the whole 'making a scene' part is one of my favorite parts in any movie EVER! I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'd like to thank the reviewers:**_ Hawk's-GaL4077, Phalen Rhude, fantasyluver714, Phillipfan24, _**and**_ popcorne818. _** The reviews made my chaotic life so much better! I really hope to get the next chapter up within the next few days! Reviews would be loved! Again I'm sorry! Thanks!**_

_**~Mary**_


	6. Chapter Six: God Save the Queen!

_Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movie or any of the characters. I only own Arabella._

Chapter Six: God Save the Queen!

" Will you give the flowers back to me, please?" Ben asked as we continued our ascent upwards. Abigail handed Ben the vase of pink, fragrant flowers and he held onto them. It was rather cramped in the dumbwaiter. I was squished against the back wall and my legs were beginning to cramp up. I began to feel the awkward in the air- Ben was peering at Abigail almost shyly from behind the flowers, and Abigail was staring back at him. I blinked for a moment and waited for the silence to break. Ben's eyebrows scrunched together and sniffed.

" What?" Abigail asked. Ben smiled sheepishly.

" You're wearing the perfume I bought you." He said before burying his face in the flowers. Abigail looked down and away from Ben.

" So?" She asked quietly.

" So, I think it smells kinda pretty…" Ben whispered. I smiled a bit. Abigail smiled and looked over at him.

" It's the flowers, Ben." She said, noticing the fact that his face was practically buried in them.

" No its not." He said with a slight singsong tone to his voice- he sounded like a little kid. He batted his eyes at Abigail. She smiled and shook her head, looking down. We felt the dumbwaiter jerk to a stop.

" Let's go!" I muttered as Ben opened the doors again. We all jumped out of the tight compartment and walked into the white/crème and golden ornate rooms.

" Okay, turn left." We heard Riley say. We peered into the next room on our left, which contained a large globe and many pieces of expensive looking furniture and paintings. It led to more rooms, none of which were the Queen's office.

" Dead end." Ben said.

" I mean right! Go right!" Riley corrected himself. I laughed quietly and rolled my eyes. We corrected our direction and walked into a large room that held a long mahogany table with many chandelier like lamps. We walked on the side, close to the windows, and when a worker came our way, we hugged the wall and began to talk about the flowers, as if we were flower arrangers.

" Oh! The flowers… petals… stamens…" Ben muttered as Abigail and I muttered 'good, good!' We continued to walk after the worker passed, and we came to a door in a curved section of the wall. I carefully opened the door and peered inside. The room was beautiful- the fireplace was carved marble and the furniture was wonderful and ornate, and the desk was right in front of us. I gestured to Ben and Abigail to enter.

" Go, go!" I whispered. We all walked inside and I silently shut the door.

" That's it." Ben whispered, eyeing the desk. He set the flowers down on a small table and we all walked towards the desk.

" The Resolute Desk." I said.

" We're looking for… " Ben stopped talking as we walked past a door way. " Writing, patterns on the carvings… anything." Ben told us. We began to inspect the desk, and Ben got down on the carpet and under the desk.

" Hey… look at this." He said. I slid next to him, staying on his right, and Abigail was on his left. We looked up and saw a symbol with a name on it. " Malcolm Gilvary, eighteen eighty."

" Hold on a second." Riley told us. I heard the faint sounds of his keyboard clicking. " Here we go! Malcolm Gilvary. Well… he didn't make furniture, he made Chinese puzzle boxes." Riley informed us. Ben wriggled his way up, so he was just under the edge of the desk. I followed his example. He took one of the drawers and pulled it open. There were tiny little numbers on the bottom. I smiled.

" Wow." I said.

" What?" Abigail asked, sliding up to look.

" I think these drawers work like tumblers in a safe." Ben muttered.

" Okay, four drawers, four digit combination?" Abigail guessed, gesturing to the drawers.

" What about… a year of some sort?" I asked.

" Uh… well, let me see… Queen Victoria, born, eighteen nineteen." Riley said.

" So you go one," Ben told Abigail. Abigail pulled the first drawer out so it only showed the number one. There was a faint click. " Eight." Ben said, pulling out the second drawer so it went up to the number eight.

" One." I said pulling out the third drawer. " Nine." I said pulling out the fourth drawer. Nothing happened.

" Any luck?" Riley asked as we sighed.

" Okay, eighteen seventy-six was in the inscription on the statue in Paris, lets try that." Ben suggested. We closed all the drawers.

" One." Abigail said opening the first drawer.

" Eight." Ben said, opening the second.

" Seven." I said opening the third. " Six." I said carefully opening the last drawer. There was a click, the sound of wood creaking, and a small pop as a piece of wood jolted out from the side of the desk. There were two panels sticking out- both had a star-like pattern carved on it. I sat up and turned the first one sideways and pushed it back in, and did the same with the second piece. A hidden drawer popped out on the side. We all stood and looked down at it. I pulled out the drawer gently.

Inside was a piece of old wood with a jagged edge and what appeared to be some sort of ancient hieroglyphs. It was dusty, and had clearly not seen the light of day for a long time. Ben raised an eyebrow and Abigail covered her mouth in shock. I smiled.

" Wow." I said.

" Uh oh." Ben said. I looked at him. " New rules. These markings are Incan or Aztec."

" I have _never_ seen any symbols like this." Abigail said. Ben and I carefully removed the wood. He blew the dust off. " I mean these look centuries older than Civil War! What do you think it means?"

" Well, I extremely, highly, highly, _highly_ doubt that _this_ has anything to do with the Lincoln Assassination." I said.

" Uh oh." We heard Riley deadpan. " Mayday. Mayday. Make it out of there!" Riley told us. Ben cleverly tucked the piece of wood into the back of the waistline of his pants so his jacket hid it.

" Arabella, I want you to go get Riley, meet us by the front door." Ben told me. I nodded and carefully ran ahead. I made my way back downstairs, and towards the bathroom. I checked to make sure no one was around and slipped into the men's bathroom. I saw that only one door had the small message 'Engaged' on the lock. I bent over and saw Riley's shoes and bag. I smiled and knocked on the door.

" Riley?" I asked. The door clicked and Riley pulled it open. I smiled and waved at him.

" Time to go." I said. Riley held up one finger.

" Lets make some noise." Riley said with a smirk. He did a few clever things on his computer, and the fire alarm began to ring. " Uh oh! God save the Queen!" Riley muttered. He clicked a few other things. " And now their surveillance is down." I laughed and began to help him take down all of his equipment, which was stuck to the stall wall.

" Quite the setup! It's not exactly your old van, but still it's quite the set up." I said. He chuckled.

" That van did me good." Riley said. " I should have kept it regardless that I had bought the Ferrari- we would still have a vehicle to drive." Riley said as he shouldered his backpack with everything cleaned up. I laughed and took his hand as we exited the bathroom, and joined the crowd that was moving towards the door. We joined up with Ben and Abigail and made our way outside, and through the gates.

We made our way across the street and towards our rental car. There were wailing sirens as cop cars and fire trucks pulled up to the palace. We began to cross a street corner when Riley got caught up in a little tangle with a group of dog walking women- the dogs got tangled around his feet and he couldn't move.

" Alright! I'm a bit allergic!" Riley said.

" Riley!" Ben called. I stopped and waited for him.

" Thank you, okay, see you later, bye-bye!" Riley said as he finally ducked under the leashes and he grabbed my hand, and we caught up with Ben and Abigail.

" Thanks for waiting for me." He said sarcastically to them. " Can I see the thing?" He asked breathlessly. He released my hand and walked backwards as Ben handed him the piece of wood. Riley peered at it curiously. " Went to Buckingham Palace and all we get is a piece of old wood?"

" Look at this." Abigail said beginning to explain something. Ben looked across the street and I saw his eyes widen.

" What?" I asked and followed his gaze. I saw a group of three men standing on the sidewalk. One of the men was wearing a striped button down and a black suit jacket, and he was balding. He smirked at us.

" Wilkinson!" Ben said, yanking us towards the rental car. " He's the one after the treasure!"

" Okay, I'll drive!" Riley said jumping into the front left hand side. I jumped into the back with Abigail, and saw Riley grab for the steering wheel that wasn't there.

" We're in England." Ben reminded him. He started the engine and a little screen came up in the front that let us see what was behind us. There was a man with a gun chasing us.

" It's a gun! Get down!" Ben shouted. We all ducked in time for the back window to shatter.

" We're trapped!" Riley said in despair.

" Hang on!" Ben shouted, stepping on the gas, the gear in reverse. " Keep your heads down!" I could hear yells and shouts as our car drove backwards down the street. There were more shots, and Ben swerved, throwing me against the door, as well as the shards of glass. I gasped in pain as I felt the glass puncture my arm. I groaned and tried to ignore the stinging and throbbing. I yanked a few pieces out of my arm as I felt blood trickle its way down.

As we drove past a hotel we ran over some poor man's luggage but continued to drive. We rounded another corner and found the group of dogs in the middle of the street.

" Stop!" I shouted. Ben slammed on the breaks and only one dog was left sitting there. We all watched the monitor as the dog stood up and licked the camera. " Sorry!" I called out of the non-existent back window as Ben pulled out on to the main street. We all sat up and I looked down at my injured arm, which was my right arm. Blood was flowing in tiny rivers and I sighed at the spots of blood on my skirt and car upholstery. I gripped my arm and glanced out the back window.

" Ben! They're getting closer!" Abigail said as we spotted Wilkinson in the car behind us.

" What is their _problem_?" Riley asked.

" Oh, I don't know, maybe they're treasure obsessed!" I said. We passed the Tower of London, and Abigail instructed,

" Go left! Left!"

" Hold on!" Ben said as he made a sharp left hand turn. Wilkinson's car pulled up beside ours and slammed into us. Riley and I both spotted the red double decker bus ahead of us.

" Turn, turn!" Riley shouted pointing. Ben began to turn, but he turned too late. We slammed hard into the side of the bus, shattering the glass on the windows, and spraying it across the back seat. Abigail and I jumped and I tired to make sure that I didn't cut myself again.

" Everybody okay?" Ben asked. I glanced down at my arm, but decided not to say anything. We eventually had to slow down, seeing as we got stuck behind a beer truck that was carrying kegs of beer. " Come on, come on!" I looked behind us and saw a man lean out of the passengers seat and pull a gun, pointed at us.

" Look out! The guy's gonna shoot again!" I said as we all ducked. The first bullet struck the gate of the bed of the truck in front of us. The gate popped open and the kegs began to bounce out of the truck. Ben began swerving to avoid the kegs and one exploded against the hood of the car, and I shouted in surprise. We finally passed the beer truck, causing Wilkinson to crash into it as it came to a sudden halt. We halted to see if anyone was still after us. A man with a gun climbed out of a toppled car.

" Go. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" Riley said as Ben stepped on the gas. A few moments later, a phone began to ring. " What is that? Someone's phone." Riley said. Abigail grabbed her phone from her purse and read the caller ID.

" It's him." Abigail said.

" What, you have him on his speed dial?" Riley asked. Abigail gave him a look as she handed the phone to Ben.

" Oh shut it." She said.

" Mitch." Ben said as we all went silent. " This has gotta end before someone gets hurt." As if on cue, Abigail noticed my bloody arm. She gasped.

" Oh my God…" She muttered.

" What?" Riley asked.

" Nothing!" I said. We heard Ben say,

" Tell _that_ to my father." Ben hung up.

" Arabella, your arm-" Abigail began. I motioned for her to stay quiet, because I didn't want my minor injury to cause any more stress in the already stressful moment. We turned off onto a street that was full of people- they were sitting at café tables, and it was obvious that this wasn't a thruway street anymore.

" Why are there people in the street?" Riley asked. Ben honked the horn and we heard people scream and begin to run.

" Where are they going?" I asked.

" Why are they running?" Riley pondered. We all looked behind us and saw a massive semi truck. And who was in the semi? Wilkinson's goons of course.

" Go! He's right behind us!" Abigail shouted. Ben began to speed up as people just began to clear the street. There was crashing as the truck ran over tables and glass.

" Did I just run over a man's foot?" Ben asked.

" Watch out for the people! We don't need murder on our records!" I shouted. We made it onto the street and drove into another alley-like street and the truck followed. We hit small motorbikes on our way down the street and we didn't really care about the damage anymore- we were just worried about escaping with our lives.

" Go! Go faster!" Abigail urged. We turned down another alley and onto another street, knowing the truck couldn't follow.

" They're still behind us!" I observed, spotting Wilkinson in a dark silver-grey car behind us.

" Does this phone have a camera in it?" Ben asked her.

" No, no it's broken." Abigail said. He tossed it into the back seat.

" Okay, give me the plank." Ben said. Riley handed him the plank.

" What are you thinking?" I asked. Ben said nothing as he sped up towards a red light.

" Hang on. We're gonna run a red light." Ben stated. He held the plank up to his face, the symbols facing outward. He sped under the red light, almost hitting five people and a car.

" Ah, ah!" Riley muttered, leaning back in his seat. As we continued down the street, Ben told Riley,

" Hack into the London Police database and get a copy of the picture from that traffic cam."

" Okey-dokie." Riley snapped. I raised an eyebrow. He sounded offended.

" You can't do it?" Ben asked.

" No, I can do it, I just don't like people to _assume_ I can do it." Riley explained, pulling out his laptop.

" Aha-ha! Why, thank you, Riley!" Abigail said smacking Ben's arm.

" Not the time!" I said, swaying in my seat at the sudden movements the car was making. Ben made a face. We made our way onto a bridge and Wilkinson was weaving around cars and eventually got next to us. Ben held the plank out the window towards the man in the other car. He reached for it, and then Ben tossed it over the edge of the bridge.

Wilkinson's car screeched to a stop and caused a traffic jam as we continued to speed down the road. I sighed in relief and relaxed into the seat.

" Is everyone okay?" Ben asked. I was about to say 'yeah, of course!' but, Abigail interrupted me.

" Arabella's hurt." She said. I sighed.

" _What_!" Riley sputtered, spinning around in his seat.

" It's nothing!" I said. Riley spotted my arm.

" That is blood! That is a fair amount of blood! That isn't nothing!" Riley said yanking my hand away from my arm. " Ben, we need to find a doctor or something!"

" What happened?" Ben asked, panicked.

" Look, I fell on some glass and it cut into my arm." I explained.

" We're finding a doctor." Ben said. I sighed and looked at the blood on my hand. It would take a while to scrub it off.

" Does it hurt…?" Riley asked. He climbed into the back seat to sit between Abigail and I.

" Kinda. It hurts less now than it did before." I said. Riley kissed my head and snatched his laptop, beginning to find directions to a doctor. I put my hand back on my arm and thought for a moment.

This search was getting dangerous- just like old times.

_**Afterword: Thanks for reading! I finally got this up! FINALLY! I'm beginning to think I probably won't be able to post much during the week days- I'll try as hard as I can to, but I might not be able to. Anyways, I hope that you liked the chapter! I was thinking of maybe doing a chapter or part of a chapter in Riley's point of view, but what do you guys think? Let me know if you comment!**_

_** I'd like to thank my reviewers: **_fantasyluver714, grapejuice101, _**and**_ HeraOfTheStars. _**Thanks for reviewing you guys! I'm glad people are still reading this XD I know that my updates aren't as close together as they were with the first story, but I have midterms this week! AAAAAAHHHHKKKK! DX I'm so gonna die… I'm glad that those of you who have been reading and reviewing are still reading this! Thanks so much guys! I'd LOVE reviews to make my sucky midterm week go better! Thanks guys!  
>~ Mary<strong>_


	7. Chapter Seven: Cibola

_Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movies or any of the characters. I only own Arabella._

Chapter Seven: Cibola

We returned to the hotel after we had gone to a local doctor. I got all the bits of glass out of my arm and luckily it only needed to be bandaged- and that was wonderful because I hated getting stitches. They had to put a gauze pad over the cuts and then wrapped an ace bandage around it to keep it in place.

Once we returned to the hotel I went straight to the bathroom and scrubbed the dry blood off my hand as Riley began to pack up our stuff. I threw my skirt away- I wouldn't be able to get the spots of blood off of it, so I changed into some comfortable jeans. Riley had been so worried about my arm that he was beginning to refuse to let me lift anything with that arm. I thought it was sweet how worried his was about me- he was the sweetest man on earth. Riley handed me a comfortable lightweight sweater to change into, and I smiled at him.

" Thank you." I said as I unbuttoned my blouse.

" Anytime. Here let me help you." Riley said helping me move the sleeve over the bandage on my arm.

" Thanks." I said, grateful that I didn't have to move that arm much, seeing as it still stung and throbbed. I pulled the sweater on over my black tank top and sat on the bed, pulling my shoes on. I looked over at Riley and saw he was dressing a little more relaxed. He was still wearing a blue button down with a tie, but he wore a dark blue sweater over it with a pair of blue jeans, and, of course, his favorite black converse. I smiled. It was nice to see him in something other than the suits he began to wear on a daily basis.

I gave him a hug, resting my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes, smiling. He hugged back, resting his cheek against my head.

" I love you." I said. I felt Riley smile.

" I love you too, so, so much." He said pressing a kiss to my forehead. I smiled up at him and took off his glasses, which he had put on while searching through the London Police database for that picture of Ben. I slid them into his sweater pocket.

" You guys ready to go home?" Ben asked. We looked over at him.

" More than you'll ever know." I said grabbing my suitcase against Riley's protests. I smirked at him. " It's not as heavy as yours." I pointed out with a giggle before I followed Ben towards the door and the taxi downstairs.

OOOO

When we arrived in D.C. it was late morning- the air was cool and pleasant and the sky was a cloudless blue. Grass still had dew on it and leaves rustled in the breeze. I slept most of the plane ride so I was pretty rested. We found Ben's car in the parking lot, and we drove to Patrick's house, giving him a call on the way to let him know we were coming. When we got to Patrick's house, we all grabbed our bags and began up the walkway towards the door, Abigail in the lead, Ben following her, I followed Ben, and Riley was lagging behind with his heavy luggage.

" Abigail!" Patrick said when he opened the door.

" Hey, Patrick!" She said smiling.

" Nice to see the two of you together again!" He commented, smiling.

" Oh, well, we're not." Abigail said.

" You should have seen their fight at Buckingham Palace." I commented with a quiet laugh, earning a look from Ben, which I just responded with a shrug.

" Oh, well I was hoping to get some of these boxes out of the house!" Patrick said taking Abigail's bag and assisting her inside. We walked in, and I waited for Riley who was struggling to yank his bags up the porch steps. I rolled my eyes and took a few of his bags to help. When we got inside I shut the door and Riley took off his sunglasses.

" Hey, Riley, could you show my dad the picture of the plank? I think he might be able to decipher it." Ben said.

" Sure, sure let me just find it first." Riley said as he began to search through the mess his backpack was in. He finally found it and handed it to me. " Could you pull it up? It's in a little file marked 'Plank'." Riley told me. I chuckled and opened up the laptop. I found the file and placed the laptop on the table, and opened it up, revealing the picture of Ben holding up the plank.

" Wow…" Patrick muttered pulling his glasses off. I sat on his right and Riley sat on his left, Ben and Abigail behind us as we waited. " I can't read the whole thing, but I can tell you that these are _definitely_ pre-colonial Native American markings!"

" Easy five hundred years old." Said Ben, who had put on his glasses, which made him look all scholarly.

" Easily." Patrick said. He zoomed in on one symbol, eyes wide. " I _can _identify one symbol… Look at this. Do you know what that is?"

" Sacred calindracle? I don't know." Ben said.

" I don't know what it is either." I stated quietly.

" That symbol is _Cibola._ That's Cibola." Patrick said.

" Oh my dear Lord…" I muttered.

" Wh-what's Cibola?" Riley asked.

" The City of Gold…" Ben muttered so quietly Riley barely heard him.

" I'm sorry, what?" Riley asked.

" Riley, Cibola is the City of Gold." I said smiling at him. Riley grinned.

" Sweet!" Riley said.

OOOO

" In fifteen twenty-seven, a Spanish ship wrecked on the Florida coast." Ben began to tell the story, glancing down at a big book in his hands. He stood by the fireplace where a fire crackled, and I sat between Abigail and Riley on the couch, and Patrick sat in an armchair. " There were only four survivors. One was a slave named Esteban, who saved a local tribe's dying chief. As a reward, he was taken to their sacred city, a city built from solid gold. Later, when Esteban tried to find the city again, he never could. But the legend grew, and every explorer came to the new world in search of it. When General Custer's search for gold ended with his last stand at Little Bighorn, it became clear that no one would ever find it." Ben finished. Riley looked like he was in awe. Patrick looked up from staring at the carpet.

" Ben, can you imagine if the _Confederates_ got their hands on the City of Gold? My God…" Patrick muttered, standing and beginning to walk away.

" I'm going to talk to her." Ben stated. Patrick froze. There can only be _one_ 'her' that the two always fought about, ever since Ben was a kid. " _You're_ coming with me." Ben said pointing to Patrick.

" No!" Patrick said, trying to leave the room.

" Hey, no one else can translate it!" Ben pointed out, stopping him. Riley looked horribly confused. We all turned to watch them.

" There are others! There are _several_ others!" Patrick pleaded.

" For _Ancient Native American?_ There's no one better." He said. Abigail and I smiled and Abigail shook her head.

" Who?" Riley asked in confusion.

" Look, Ben, I can't go with you. It's been, what, twenty-five years-" Patrick tried.

" Thirty-two." Ben pointed out, face blank.

" That long?" Patrick deadpanned, turning away. " There's a _reason_ we haven't spoken in thirty-two years! We have _nothing _in common!"

" Me." Ben pointed out.

" Yes, of course, and I'm _sure_ she's just as proud of you as I am!" Patrick said.

" Who?" Riley asked me.

" His mom." I whispered.

OOOO

We all drove to the University of Maryland, where Ben's mother, Emily Appleton, worked. We walked into the crowded halls, and I remembered how glad I was that I wasn't in school anymore.

" Will you please calm down? Everything will be fine." Ben told Patrick, as the rest of us walked behind them.

" Sure, lets look at the Brightside. It's been a long time maybe she's lost her memory and doesn't recognize me." Patrick said. We turned towards a door that led to Emily's office just as a disgruntled student stormed out, slamming the door.

" I _hate_ her!" She yelled, pushing through us and disappearing into the hall.

" We're in the right place!" Patrick said with a smile. Ben knocked on the door and stepped inside, followed by Abigail.

" I'm gonna go ahead and take myself out of the line of fire for this one." Riley said, sitting in a chair. I smiled down at him and gave him a kiss on the head.

" We'll be right out." I told him, walking into the office next, Patrick slowly (very slowly) following.

" Hi, Mom." Ben said.

" Benjamin! Abigail! What a surprise!" Emily said. She was grinning at Ben and Abigail, and when I stepped in she grinned at me. " Arabella! My God, it's been too long! Come here, sweetheart!" She said holding out her arms. I gave Emily a hug and smiled at her. Her light blond hair was curled slightly tickled my face. When she pulled back, she saw Patrick. Her smile dropped.

" Oh." Was all she said.

" You see? One syllable, a _knife in the heart_!" Patrick said with a hard tone in his voice.

" Oh, no, no." Ben said shaking his head.

" She can do that!" Patrick insisted.

" Yes and I can _also_ track the whereabouts of my tooth brush!" Emily said.

" I was _not_ the one who left the toothbrushes in Marrakech! I stowed them both in the travel case _as instructed_!" Patrick stated.

" Yes and you also- you also insisted loading the luggage into the taxi!" She said. I sighed quietly, running a hand through my hair.

" I didn't insist, I loaded the luggage." He said.

" Except for the travel case!"

" The travel case is _not luggage_, the travel case goes _into_ the luggage!" Patrick pointed out. " Who was in charge of packing the luggage?"

" I didn't put the travel case into the luggage because it was full with that stupid rug you bought because you thought it had some kind of secret stitching!" Emily told Patrick. " How stupid was that?"

" Mom…" Ben muttered.

" It _DID_ have secret stitching!" Patrick insisted. They continued to argue.

" Mom!" Ben yelled. The two stopped arguing. They looked at him. " I need you to take a look at this." Ben said handing the picture of Ben and the plank to Emily.

" What is that a picture of?" She asked, walking towards her desk.

" Its very interesting, we're thinking it might be Olmec." I said.

" Yes, it is." She confirmed. " Yes, yes, _definitely_ proto-Zoquean."

" We were hoping you could translate it." Patrick said. Emily looked up from her desk.

" Yes, of course you were." She said, pulling her glasses on. I stood to her right and we waited as she began to decipher it. " Oh, oh this doesn't involve another _treasure hunt_ does it?" She asked. We all went silent.

" Mom, this is actually _very_ important." Ben said. Patrick sat down on a couch that was crème colored with matching pillows.

" Alright, what have we got here." She said looking down. " This… this glyph here, that means 'bird'. And that means-" She stopped and looked at Patrick as he began to stand. He sighed and sat back down. " Uh, 'noble bird'. 'Find the noble bird, let him take you by the hand, and give you passage to the sacred temple'." She decoded for us. She paused and then looked up again. She laughed. " Oh, you think this is a treasure map for Cibola, don't you?" She asked. I scratched the back of my head.

" Well that is _exactly_ what it is!" Patrick said finally standing.

" _No, Patrick._ This glyph doesn't mean Cibola, it means the center of the world!" Emily insisted.

" You know, you used to like it! She fell in love with me on a treasure hunt!" Patrick said looking at Ben and then at me. I smiled and looked down at the floor.

" That's not love, that was excitement, adrenaline and tequila!" Emily insisted, walking towards the bookshelf.

" Mom…" Ben muttered.

" I was just trying to get course credit!" She said.

" Well it paid off! In case you didn't read the news papers lately." Patrick pointed out.

" That had nothing to do with you! That was all Ben and Arabella! You did nothing!" She said.

" Well, Ben wasn't the _only_ one who fell in love on that treasure hunt!" Patrick said. Emily looked over at me.

" You did?" She asked. I smiled and nodded, quickly running out into the hall, dragging Riley into the office. He looked a bit surprised, but went along with it, not sure what to do. I wrapped my arms around Riley, resting my head on his shoulder.

" This is Riley Poole." I told Emily. Riley smiled at Emily and waved.

" Hey." He said.

" It's good to meet you." Emily said. " I take it you are the Riley Poole Ben has spoken of?"

" I probably am, I'm the only Riley Poole I know of, so…" Riley said with a small nod. Patrick suddenly began to bring up Emily's previous comment about him not doing anything in the treasure hunt.

" I did something! I helped out!" Patrick said.

" Patrick, Emily!" Abigail said. They both looked over at her. " Please, could we just figure out what's on the page?"

" Well, that's it I'm afraid. These glyphs are only partial." Emily said, walking back over to the page and picking it up. " So, you only have _half_ a treasure map. I'm sorry." She bent down to Ben. " Not that I'm surprised." She whispered, looking at Patrick.

" Well, I think we should get going." I said. " We need to get back to D.C. It was really nice seeing you Emily." I smiled to her. She smiled back, giving everyone- except Patrick- a hug before we left. Riley and I left first, walking out of the door hand-in-hand.

" So, I decide to stay out of the line of fire for once, and yet you drag me into it?" Riley asked. I smiled sweetly at it.

" I had to, but I wouldn't have let you get hurt, you know." I said placing a kiss on his cheek. He grinned as we all walked out on to the campus again.

" At least we know where the rest of the map is." Ben said.

" What? You know where it is? Why didn't you tell me?" Patrick asked, Ben spun around.

" Obviously you have a tendency to _OVERREACT!_" Ben yelled, causing Patrick to jump back, surprised. Everyone was quiet.

" I'm sorry." Patrick said.

" So am I." Ben replied.

" So, where is it?" Patrick asked.

" Well, the inscription on the statue in Paris said 'These Twins Stand Resolute'." Ben said.

" We think that the map could be divided between the two Resolute Desks." I said.

" The Resolute Desk? _The_ Resolute desk?" Patrick asked, shocked. Ben and I nodded. " The President's desk?"

" The President? What President?" Riley asked. " _Our_ president?"

" Unfortunately, yes." Abigail said, looking over at him. Riley's face was mixed with shock, and something that looked almost like pain.

" But that means… we'd have to… The White House?" Riley finally managed to say I put my hand on his shoulder and nodded.

" Well… to be exact…" I muttered.

" The Oval Office." Ben said. Riley now officially looked pained. He obviously didn't want to figure out how to break into the White House. Who could blame him? Patrick shrugged.

" Why would I overreact to that?" He asked sarcastically.

We all got back into Ben's car and drove back to Patrick's house, and by the time we had gotten there, it was late evening. Riley had pulled up the White House's website and began to look for anything about the desk.

" The Resolute Desk is near the south wall in the Oval Office." Patrick said, walking in with a book in his hands. " Look at this." He set the book down.

" There's a small door on the front of the desk." Ben said, pointing to the picture of Kennedy at his desk with his son playing underneath the desk, peeking out from behind the open door.

" FDR had that put in so guests couldn't see his wheelchair. But-" I explained but Riley cut me off.

" Guys. Take a look at this." Riley said pointing to the screen with a smile. On the screen was a little ad for something. It read;

_**Annual Easter Egg Roll**_

_**On the White House Lawn**_

_**General Admission, Tickets Are Selling Quickly. Don't Miss Out On This Wonderful Holiday Tradition**_

_**[More Information]**_

" That might just work." I said smiling.

" Why, Abigail, I do believe it's time to make a date with your new boyfriend." Ben said. We all looked at him shocked, save Abigail who nodded and smiled.

" I think your right!" She said. I looked at Riley, who shrugged, and we were both at a complete loss.

" Now lets buy some tickets…" Riley said.

_**Afterword: Hope you guys liked the chapter! I'm hoping in the next few chapters to fit in Riley's point of view somewhere. Now we get to the White House scene in the next chapter! YAY! =D I'd like to thank my reviewers: **_HeraOfTheStars, Phillipfan24, grapejuice101, Snicker if you Doodle, _**and**_ fantasyluver714. _**Thanks for reviewing! Do forgive me (in advance) for this next week- midterms. DX I'm soooooo gonna die… I'll update as much as possible! Thanks for reading the chapter! REVIEWS WOULD BE LOVED! =D Thanks!**_

_**~ Mary**_


	8. Chapter Eight: Pieces and Riley's Book

_Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movie or any of the characters. I only own Arabella._

Chapter Eight: Of Missing Pieces and Riley's Book

The next day, I woke up early to get dressed. It had been decided I would join Ben and Abigail into the White House, and Patrick and Riley would stay behind in case anything went horribly wrong. I got dressed in a white dress that had black flowers on it and a black silk sash around the waist and pulled on some ballet flats. I cooked some pancakes and walked into the bedroom to wake Riley up. His face was smooshed against his pillow, one of his arms was draping over the edge of the bed and the blankets were gathered up around his waist. I knelt down beside the bed and gently shook his arm.

" Riley… Riley, it's time to wake up! C'mon sleepy head!" I said. Riley groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times and looked at me.

" Is it morning already…?" He muttered. I laughed and kissed his forehead.

" Indeed it is." I told him and stood up. " When you decide to finally stand, there are pancakes for you in the kitchen." Riley lifted his head and sat up.

" What a wonderful morning this is." He said smiling. I laughed and headed to the kitchen. It was only a few minutes later when Riley joined me in the kitchen. He was dressed in a dark t-shirt with jeans and socks on his feet. He sat down across from me and smiled, taking a few pancakes and plopping them onto his plate. I always thought how much Riley loved food was hilarious- he never got tired of any kind of it. We once ate pizza for about a week, and he never complained.

After breakfast, Ben picked us up in a little truck that had some of his boxes of stuff in it, and we drove to the White House. On the front lawn, little kids were enjoying the egg roll, running around with their faces painted and the spring sun shining down on their heads. I smiled and laughed.

" I remember when I would get that excited about Easter." I said as we pulled over on the side of the road. " I used to always wake up really early, just like on Christmas. I would look around the yard from every window in my house to see if I could spot the Easter Bunny. I was a weird child."

" You were." Ben commented. I smacked his arm and rolled my eyes.

" Well, at least I'm lovably weird." I said.

" So true." Riley told me, kissing me for a moment. I smiled and gave him a hug.

" Okay, come on, we need to go find Abigail." Ben said.

" Mmkay." I said, kissing Riley's cheek before hoping out of the car and running to catch up with Ben, who was across the street. I finally caught up to him as he straightened out his white and black pinstriped jacket's lapels. Abigail met up with us and we began to search for Connor. We walked onto the lawn, looking at the children who looked like they were having the best times of their lives.

" They are so adorable." I said.

" I know. It makes me miss being a child." Abigail agreed, smiling at me. I smiled back as we began to approach someone in a bunny suit.

" Is that Connor in the bunny suit?" Ben asked, hope leaking into his voice.

" Oh, thank you!" Abigail said as the bunny-man handed her a tiny stuffed bunny. " You know, I've never been to an egg roll, its kind of sweet."

" Yeah… I love it." Ben muttered as Abigail handed him the little bunny.

" Hey, I know you!" A little boy said pointing at Ben. We all turned and smiled. " Your great-great grandfather killed president Lincoln!" He said. All of our smiles immediately dropped. This would not end well…

" No. That would be Jon Wilkes Booth.

" Eisenschiml says that Jon Wilkes Booth was just a tool in a greater conspiracy of men in Lincoln's own Cabinet." The boy shot back, sounding quite sure of himself. The boy's tone of voice was actually quite annoying.

" _Absurd_. Eisenschiml's book is filled of spotty research and false assumptions!" Ben shot back, leaning down to look at the boy.

" Oh, yeah?" The boy challenged.

" Yeah!" Ben said.

" Then how do you explain why Lincoln's body guard left his post that night?" He asked.

" Because president Lincoln was never attended by guards when attending the theatre, are you listening? _Especially on Good Friday._" Ben said, clearing getting annoyed. I looked over at Abigail, concern on my face. She seemed mildly amused at what was going on.

" Then how do you explain how all the bridges out of Washington were closed! Except _one_ the one Booth needed to escape!" The boy yelled. I looked around, noticing that people were beginning to stare.

" Ben, people are beginning to stare! Stop it!" I muttered to him. Ben straightened up and put on a smile that was as still as cardboard.

" Okay, now run along now, you impossible child, run along." Ben said. The boy gave an odd hand gesture before running off. Ben shook his head.

" How are they teaching kids now? I thought everyone knew that Lincoln didn't attend the theatre with his guards." I said. Ben shook his head again.

" Obviously they're not teaching it right." Ben said.

" Hey! Hey!" We heard someone call over the laughing of children. We all turned around to see Connor waving and smiling at us, running over. He looked like a plastic Ken doll or something.

" Hey! Connor!" Abigail said smiling.

" I'm so glad you decided to come!" Connor said as they hugged. He looked up and saw us, smile falling a bit. " With Arabella. And… with Gates."

" Connor." Ben and I said tightly. I didn't like the guy, he gave me the creeps, honestly.

" Actually, we just bumped into each other." Abigail said, and I gave a nod to confirm.

" Oh." He said. There was a moment of awkward silence.

" Well, aren't you going to ask him?" Ben prodded Abigail.

" Ask me what?" Connor asked, curiously.

" Nothing." She whispered.

" No, really what?"

" I really don't want to impose." She said.

" No, no, no. She just means that… well… to be brutally honest, she doesn't think you can!" I said with a small smile and a shrug.

" Arabella." She said with mock exasperation.

" Doesn't think I can what?" Connor asked.

" She wants to see the Oval Office." Ben told him.

" No! I know that is _way_ too much to ask!" Abigail said looking over at Connor.

" No, it's uh…" Connor looked at Ben, and they seemed to have one of those moments to see which would back down first. " I can do that."

" Really?" Abigail asked, feigning surprise.

" We told you!" Ben said.

" Really? You can! That's amazing!" Abigail said taking Connor's arm as we began to walk off. " I've always wanted to see the Oval Office!" She smiled and looked behind to both Ben and I.

" Connor rocks." Ben said, and I could sense the sarcasm.

We made our way inside- carefully, and if we had all been wearing black, I'd say ninja like, but that would also be a very odd thing to say. We walked into the Oval Office, Connor leading the way.

" And here is the Oval Office." Connor said as we carefully set foot inside.

" Hm." Ben said, looking around.

" Wow!" Abigail said.

" Amazing." I added, looking around, truly in awe.

" The Empire furnishings and crenelated molding. Love it." Ben said gesturing to the ceiling of the room.

" Hm." Connor responded. " Amazing feeling isn't it, standing here?"

" Yes, amazing, huh?" Abigail said, beginning to sit down on a couch that had a little pile of stuffed bunnies but Connor stuttered something and she quickly stood again. Ben and I were looking at the desk in front of us.

" Oh, that's the Resolute Desk. You might recognize it from the famous photo of the young JFK Jr. playing underneath while his father was working." Connor said opening up the door on the front before closing it again.

" Wonderful." Ben muttered.

" Yeah. But many people don't know that this desk has a twin that sits in Buckingham Palace." Connor said, glancing at Abigail, clearly attempting to impress her.

" Well I'll be darned!" I said rocking back on my heels, smiling as if I'd just learned something new. " Isn't that something, Abigail?"

" Who knew?" She added.

" Every president since Rutherford B. Hayes has used that desk, except, uh, Johnson and Nixon." He said.

" Uh, and Ford, of course." Abigail added.

" Uh, no." He said. She looked over at him.

" Uh, yes."

" No."

" Yes!" She insisted.

" Abigail!" Ben called we all looked at him. " Did you loose an earring?"

" Oh! I… I did!" Abigail said feeling her ears removing an earring stealthily. " Connor, these were given to me by my grandmother!"

" Well, I suppose we should look for it." Ben said.

" You know, it wouldn't be too good for someone to find an earring in here that isn't the First Lady's." I said with 'concern'.

" Excellent point, considering we're not supposed to be in here." Connor muttered.

" Yeah." Ben said.

" Why don't we, uh, go over here and check it out?" Abigail asked, nodding towards the couches with a smile to Connor.

" We'll check over here!" Ben said as we walked towards the Resolute Desk. We crouched down, pulling out drawers carefully, listening for the clicks to indicate we were pulling them out to the right number. We glanced up every once and a while, to make sure Abigail was keeping Connor distracted, and she was doing a pretty damn good job at it. We moved to the second set of drawers and we heard wood pieces pop out once we entered the correct date. I quickly turned the pieces sideways and began to press them in. I looked up as the secret drawer popped open. Connor looked over.

" Connor!" Abigail said, tossing her earring onto the couch by the bunnies. " You found it!" He took the pearl earring and smiled at her.

" I did!" He said smiling. I pulled out the drawer and looked inside, finding nothing. It was just the shape of the other piece of wood. I saw a marking on the inside and grabbed my phone.

" Thank you so much!" Abigail said grabbing him in a hug, giving us a look. Ben made a spinning hand gesture as if to say 'keep it up!' She pulled back and smiled. " You're the best!" She told him, giving him a kiss. I raised my eyebrows before quickly looking down and taking a picture with my phone. As Ben and I began to return the desk to its normal state, Abigail threw herself more into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Connor's neck, much to the disliking of Ben, who was wearing his emotions clear on his face. We both stood and looked at them.

Ben cleared his throat loudly, and Abigail pulled away and grinned at the now surprised and disheveled Connor. Abigail pat his shoulder, catching her breath.

" Thank you." She said standing. Connor stood up slowly.

" Okay…" He muttered in shock. I rolled my eyes, grabbing Ben's arm before dragging him out the door.

We made our way outside and back across the street, and walked around to the front of the White House to find Riley and Patrick, pacing around.

" It was empty." I said as Riley ran over. His eyes widened in shock and he held out his hands slightly in a means to say 'what?'.

" Someone must have taken it." Abigail added. Riley sighed and shoved his hands into his brown coat pockets, shaking his head.

" The brightest men in our country have sat at that desk for over a hundred years. Of course one of them found it." Patrick said as we all walked over to the sidewalk. I pulled out my phone, which had one of the best camera phones ever, and found the picture I had taken,

" Take a look at this." I said, zooming in on the symbol. " God, I know I've seen this symbol before…" I muttered.

" The Presidential Seal." Patrick said squinting at the picture.

" It's not the Presidential Seal, you see the eagle is holding a scroll, instead of olive branches…" Abigail pointed out. I felt Riley's presence disappear. I gasped and spun around.

" Riley!" I said finally realizing where I'd seen the seal before. " Your book!" I said. He gave me a hug before looking at everyone else.

" Did none of you read my book?" He asked in disappointment. They all turned around and looked at us. " The eagle clutching the scroll."

" Do you know what it means?" Ben asked.

" Yeah." Riley smiled, walking forward. " But it's not something I can tell you. It's something I have to show you. In my book." Riley said. I smiled at how excited he sounded.

" I think I have a copy with me." Ben said as we walked over to his van/truck. He opened a box and pulled out a manila envelope and removed Riley's book from inside. I heard Riley sigh then groan.

" You didn't even open it?" He asked, sounding hurt.

" I was moving." Ben defended.

" Chapter thirteen." Riley said in exasperation. I have him a kiss on the cheek and I took his hand, trying to be reassuring. Ben flipped through the pages until he found a page that said 'Chapter Thirteen: The President's Secret Book. You Bet It's Real!'

" 'The President's Secret Book'?" Ben asked.

" 'The President's Secret Book.'" Riley said, smiling as Ben pulled his glasses on, looking down at Riley's book. I stood beside Patrick and smiled at Riley, happily watching him. " It happens to be a collection of documents for presidents, by presidents, and for presidents' eyes only. And I'm not just talking about JFK here, guys, the eighteen and a half missing minutes of the Watergate tapes. Did the Apollo really land on the moon?" He looked at us, raising his eyebrows, obviously enjoying explaining this. " Did it? _Did it_? And the coup de grâce. Area fifty-one."

" Come on, Riley! That's an urban legend!" Abigail said with a laugh. I laughed quietly at the look of superiority on Riley's face. This was another one of those moments like the one that happened back in Urban Outfitters in Philadelphia about the daylights savings thing. He loved these moments, and when I was reading the book, he'd continually stop me to tell me things. And it made me love him all the more.

" _Is it_, Abigail? Is it?" Riley asked, walking over to her.

" It's just… totally…" She tried to find a word.

" Crazy?" Riley and I offered at the same time.

" Yeah!"

" Hm. 'Cause last time I checked, we pretty much make our _living_ on crazy." Riley pointed out.

" He's got a point." Ben said, still reading.

" I guess." Abigail muttered. Patrick tapped the page at a symbol on a picture in the book.

" Same symbol." He said.

" Released in sixty-six, under the freedom of information act. The eagle and the scroll, the _secret symbol_ in the president's book." Riley said.

" So, you're saying whatever was on that plank, is now in the president's secret book?" Patrick asked. Ben was leaning against the van, in thought.

" Ben. If it was _you_ trying to convince _me_, you'd have less evidence, and I'd already believe you." Riley said, giving a small smile to Ben. Ben looked at him, rubbing his upper-lip, still clearly in thought.

" I'm thinking we'll have to talk to our good friend Agent Sadusky about this." Ben said. A grin spread across Riley's face.

" Wait, so, do you believe me?" He asked. Ben gave him a smile.

" Of course I do, Riley. Besides, it would make sense if the president had a secret book, don't you?" Ben said. Riley let out a laugh of happiness and gave everyone a quick hug.

" So, who should go talk to him?" I asked.

" I'll do it, I think he may know me the best." Ben said. I nodded.

" We'll meet you at that seafood restaurant just by the Lincoln Memorial. Does that sound good?" I asked. Ben gave a nod and climbed into his van, driving off. We got into Patrick's car and began to drive down the street. Riley and I sat in back, and I noticed that he was still smiling as he looked out the window. I took his hand and leaned against his shoulder. He smiled down at me.

" Was that another one of your superiority moments?" I asked.

" Yeah, and I cannot tell you how happy I am right now. I knew something none of us would have known if I didn't write that book." Riley said with pride. I grinned and wrapped my arms around him.

" And I'm so glad that you wrote that book." I told him. He kissed my head, rubbing my back.

" So am I." He told me.

And I knew that if we didn't get the evidence we needed from Sadusky, then we were just going to have to get it our way- and that unfortunately meant, turning to illegal measures. Ah, how I missed this chaos.

_**Afterword: There is chapter eight! I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! I've been so piled up with homework and I used to be able to do it in the studies I had at school, but my schedule changed, and now I can't get all of it done at school so I have to do it all at home really late because of my rehearsals for the school musical. Oh my God, I feel like I have no free time…**_

_** On another note, I hope to be able to update more frequently! Also, I saw 'The Woman In Black' on Friday- I officially love that movie so much! However, I'm freaked out to walk around my house in the dark now XD**_

_** I'd like to thank my reviewers: **_Mikado X Goddess, Phillipfan24, fantasyluver714, grapejuice101, _**and**_ HeraOfTheStars. _**Thanks for reviewing! I'm so glad you guys haven't given up on reading this just because I haven't been able to update this! I love this story too much to forget about this, and I feel bad every day I can't post! I love thinking about Riley and Arabella! =D**_

_** I hope to get the next chapter up soon! REVIEWS WOULD BE LOVED! Thanks! =D**_

_**~ Mary**_


	9. Chapter Nine: Our Second Evil Plan

_Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movies or any of the characters. I only own Arabella._

Chapter Nine: Our Second Evil Plan

_**Riley's Point of View:**_

We pulled up to the restaurant and parked, getting out of the car. Arabella straightened out her dress's skirt and stretched. I smiled at her and took her hand as we walked inside. We were seated at a smaller table and we each got up one by one to go get our food- it was a buffet (one of the reasons this was one of my favorite restaurants) so we could get as much as we wanted, whenever we wanted to go up and get it. Patrick got up first, and that left Abigail, Arabella and I to talk. I wrapped an arm around Arabella's shoulder, drawing her closer to me. I made sure I didn't squeeze her injured arm too hard. I looked down at the bandage and then to Arabella.

" Does it hurt still?" I asked her. She looked up at me.

" Hm?" She asked, a confused look crossing her face. She then seemed to realize what I was asking. " Oh! Well, at times yes, but it's mostly gone numb or I've gotten immune to most of the pain. It'll get better." She said, smiling at me. I smiled back.

" Well that's good." I told her. She smiled at me, her blue eyes sparkling a bit. I kissed the top of her head. Abigail smiled at us.

" You two are so happy." Abigail told us. I smirked.

" You state the obvious." I told her. She rolled her eyes.

" Of course I do, Riley." She said. " But I do that because it's true."

" And to think, it all happened close to a year or so ago." Arabella said, smiling and looking off. " And for me, it all started with a phone call from Ben." I chuckled.

" Well, lets hope this adventure goes a bit better- you know, no more gun fights and hopefully this Wilkinson guy isn't as evil as Ian." I muttered in a monotone, sipping at the water I had picked up on my way in. Arabella let out a small giggle and then Patrick returned.

By the time Ben had gotten back, we had all finished our first plate of food.

" So?" Arabella asked with excitement and interest. " What did Sadusky say?"

" The book is real." Ben told us, sitting down at the table. I broke into a grin.

" Yes! I _knew_ it!" I all but shouted, jumping out of my seat in triumph. " See, you all should have read my book. I just totally owned you all!" Abigail rolled her eyes, Ben shook his head just like Patrick, and Arabella laughed.

" Riley, sit down before people stare." Arabella said. I sat down, still smiling.

" So. Where is it?" I asked, hope filling my voice.

" Only the president knows." Ben said, rubbing his chin in thought. My face went dead.

" Really? How are we going to find it _now_?" I asked.

" I have to think about that." Ben said. " I'll need to wait till tomorrow to give you an answer." I sighed.

" Fine." I said.

OOOO

Arabella and I decided to walk back home. The night air was pleasant and the sky was clear. We walked hand in hand, quietly talking. I loved being close to Arabella- she made me feel loved. Her hand was warm and soft in mine, which were calloused from typing on keyboards and writing all the time. She also liked to keep a level head even though she loved to outsmart me with all of her history knowledge, which, she actually cut down on doing. I looked over at her and smiled. She was watching the ground as she walked, tucking a wavy strand of hair behind her ear. Watching her made me remember how much I loved her, and how much I wanted to stay around her. I smiled and squeezed her hand. She smiled at me and I smiled back.

We had finally reached our apartment, and I thought for a moment before sitting on the steps outside of the door. Arabella looked down at me confused.

" Aren't you going to come inside?" She asked.

" I'll come inside in a moment. I'm gonna think for a little bit." I told her, kissing the back of her hand. She smiled.

" Alright. See you in a bit." She said before kissing the top of my head and unlocking the door and heading inside.

I looked up at the sky and looked at all the stars. I ran a hand through my hair, messing it up. I began to think about a year ago- how I'd met Arabella. She'd just been a stranger to me, picking Ben and I up at the airport, and now, she was my girlfriend- my wonderful, gorgeous, loving girlfriend. I loved Arabella so much. I would do anything for her. I feel horrible every time she thought poorly of herself. She's such an amazing person. I smiled. I felt lucky that I had her. Standing, I walked inside, locking the door beside me. I went into the bedroom to find her curled up on the bed, asleep. I smiled again, changing into some sweatpants and a loose shirt. I crawled into bed and wrapped my arms around Arabella, resting my head close to hers. I shut my eyes, falling asleep in a matter of seconds.

OOOO

We got to Patrick's house later in the morning and I sat in an arm chair with Arabella sitting at my feet, Abigail in the armchair beside me, and Ben sitting on the ouch. Patrick stood behind me, and we all waited for Ben to talk. Light of the early morning filtered into the room through the windows, already letting us know we had a long day ahead of us. I gad my laptop set up on my lap in case of any need to look anything up.

" So, are you going to tell us where we can find the book?" Patrick asked.

" I'm going to have to speak with the president." Ben said. All of us went dead silent. He was kidding right? He wasn't serious about doing this. He couldn't be.

" Ben, are you crazy? I'm sorry, but this is _stupid._" Arabella said in shock.

" All I need is a few minutes with him." Ben said.

" A few minutes? Really?" I asked. " Ben, even if you were _married_ to the president, you wouldn't be able to have a few minutes with him."

" Not when he's surrounded by his handlers, but if I can get him _alone_-" Ben began.

" How do you expect to get the president _alone_?" I asked, honestly questioning if Ben had lost it.

" Before the Civil War, the states were all separate." Ben began. Oh God… I sense history lecture coming up. " People would say 'the United States _are_'. It wasn't until the war ended, people started saying 'the United States _is_'. Under Lincoln… we became one nation."

" And Lincoln paid for it with his _life_." Patrick stated.

" So did Thomas Gates." Ben added. Oh… personal blow.

" Right." Patrick said.

" With his life." Ben repeated. " So, how am I gonna get him alone?" He looked at all of us. I raised an eyebrow questioningly. " I'm gonna kidnap him. I'm gonna kidnap the president of the United States." Everyone went dead silent.

" _Excuse me Benjamin Franklin Gates_!" Arabella sputtered in shock. Abigail laughed.

" That's not funny." She stated.

" I'm your father! How do you expect me to respond? I won't let you ruin your life!" Patrick said. We all stood, beginning to question Ben with rapid fire.

" Are you _out of your mind_?" Abigail asked.

" Ben, this is _honestly _the stupidest thing you have ever decided to do!" Arabella said, running a hand through her hair.

" All you had to do was _read my book_ and then you would know you can't _get_ the book!" I told him. We all quieted down and Patrick asked,

" How exactly do you plan on doing this?"

" I was thinking Mount Vernon."

" Oh." Patrick said. Arabella nodded, smirking.

" What?" Abigail asked in confusion. Honestly, I had no idea what they were talking about, but I didn't really care.

" I'm in." I said.

" Someone _please_ tell me what you're all thinking about." Abigail asked in exasperation.

" Well, you see, there happens to be a secret escape route in Mount Vernon made by George Washington." Ben said.

" And it just so happens the president loves George Washington." Arabella added. She smiled, seeming to realize more of Ben's plan. " And the president's birthday is coming up."

" And if I can get the president at Mount Vernon and get him into that escape route then maybe I can get him to tell me." He said.

" But, they've already booked the hotel the party will be at." Abigail said.

" We'll just have to fix that." Arabella said with a smirk.

" What are you thinking?" I asked. She looked at me, a devious look creeping onto her face.

" Get me the number of that hotel the party is going to be held at." She said.

OOOO

We all got in on Arabella's plan. She was calling the White House's offices, asking if they knew if the hotel they were booking had been used as a Klan meeting place in the 1800's- and it wouldn't be a good thing if the party was held there now would it? Patrick and I got to work calling all the hotels possible to book them so the White House couldn't book them.

" Yeah, I know it's short notice. The pipe burst in the previous hotel we booked. I…" I paused as the person on the other end began to speak. I let out a little laugh. " There is water _everywhere_." I took a bite of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had in hand, continuing to talk.

" A retirement party for two hundred people. Gunston Hall!" I heard Patrick say. I looked at the screen in front of me, smiling as Gunston Hall, Monticello, and Tudor Place disappeared. I smiled as the person I was talking to told me I could book the place.

" Oh! Great! You are a _life saver_." I said. The Denbe Hotel became booked. I grinned. After a moment, Mount Vernon was booked as well- presumably by the White House. Arabella walked over.

" Well?" She asked.

" Our evil plan worked. Again." I said. She laughed quietly.

" Great, we're criminals again." She laughed. I chuckled. I shut my laptop and bit into my sandwich again.

We sat down for the rest of the day, trying to figure out how and who would be going into the party. We all figured Ben would be the best candidate- it _was_ his idea after all. And Arabella had said,

" I don't want 'kidnapping the president' on my record even if it can get cleared." I mean, who could blame her? The party was in two days, and we had most of the plan well laid out. Patrick would get Ben close enough to Mount Vernon for him to sneak in, and he'd also show up to pick him up. And, Arabella, Abigail and I were all going to stay at the apartment till we got word from them as to the Book's location, then we'd get a head start to the location before the FBI would get word of the president being kidnapped.

But, all of this would only work if Ben could pull this part of the heist off.

**_Afterword_: _OH MY GOD. I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN FOREVER! I would have during vacation, but I was at musical rehearsal for eight hours each day DX Then, this week was horrible and stressful and opening night for me is in six days! AAKKK! (And for those of you who have asked, the show is 'A Little Night Music') But I really hope you guys liked this chapter! I know it's short, but it's still a chapter! I did Riley's point of view, YAY! =D I plan on doing another chapter from his view, cause it's fun to write from his perspective._**

_** I want to thank my reviewers: **_fantasyluver714 _**and**_grapejuice101. _**Thanks for reviewing guys! And thanks to all those who have read and didn't review, and to those who have added this story to their favorites or their story alert. Thanks guys! I hope to get the next chapter up soon! (same for my Phantom of the Opera fanfic (that will hopefully be up tomorrow!)) PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU FORGIVE MY TARDINESS IN NOT UPDATING QUICKER! (And if you liked the chapter, of course =D) Thanks!  
>~Mary<strong>_


	10. Chapter Ten: HappyBirthday, Mr President

_Disclaimer: I do not own either of the National Treasure movies or any of the characters. I only own Arabella._

Chapter Ten: Happy Birthday, Mr. President

_**Arabella's Point of View:**_

The day of the party we all gathered at my apartment just before sundown to make sure we had the whole plan set up.

" Okay, so Patrick and Ben will get in the boat and Ben will scuba dive to the shore, sneak into the party, pretending his date ditched him, kidnap the president, get him to talk and once he gets the information he'll call us, and then he'll call us and we'll go to where ever the book is and then Patrick and Ben will catch up." Abigail said. I nodded.

" Sounds good." I said.

" Lets just hope we don't get arrested first… 'cause if they find out _Ben_ kidnapped the president, then they'll come for _us_ next and then we'll be arrested and our lives are over." Riley muttered. I rolled my eyes.

" Stop looking on the down side- we've done this once before, remember?" I said.

" Yeah, but we weren't kidnapping the president." Riley said giving me a look as he toyed around with his coke can.

" True… So… Ben? Don't get caught." I told him. Ben rolled his eyes, fixing his black tux jacket.

" I'll try." He said. I looked over at Patrick, who hadn't been complaining.

" Patrick, you've been seemingly calm." Abigail pointed out. Patrick shrugged, adjusting the bag containing his fishing gear.

" I just figure that this might work- I'm still not all that happy with my son kidnapping the president, but it might work." Patrick explained simply. I smiled. I was beginning to think maybe he was excited to be treasure-hunting again- I mean, who wouldn't?

" Okay, if we want to get there in time, we're gonna have to get going now." Ben said.

" Good luck guys." I said standing and giving the two of them hugs. After they returned the hugs, they left. I sat down and leaned into Riley's chest, shutting my eyes. It was going to be a long night.

_**Third Person Point of View:**_

Shortly after nightfall, the party for the president was in full swing, and a large sign that read 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' exploded into light once the sparklers on it lit up and dimmed down again. The live music began to play and everyone there was having a great time.

Out on the water, Ben had just submerged into the water, and Patrick was explaining things to the police that swarmed onto him, buying Ben time to get to shore. Ben swam through the water, hoisting himself onto the shore, and through a few trees. He pulled off his wet suit, revealing a dry tuxedo. He pulled out a bottle of champagne and a glass. He fixed his bowtie and muttered,

" Maybe one day I'll wear this thing to a party I was actually invited to…" He quickly stood and walked through the woods towards the sound of the music. He held a champagne glass, the champagne and a map. He only hoped this would work…

A guard stood alone, searching the area and reported back through a small microphone that everything was seemingly calm and okay. Ben stumbled through a bush, composing a look of slightly amused annoyance on his face.

" Hey, you haven't seen a kind of cute brunette wandering around here? I went to get her a drink and she just disappeared!" Ben said, walking past the guard towards the party. He hoped Riley's idea (yes, Riley's idea) of pretending to have his date run off would get him into the party. The guard gave Ben a look, following him with his eyes.

" No, Sir." The guard replied with slight confusion.

" I've got no game tonight!" Ben said with mock exasperation as he headed up to the party. He made a mental note to thank Riley for his idea later- it worked!

Ben deposited the champagne and glass on a table, still holding the map, and then began glancing around. The place was, as expected, crawling with guards. He spotted the President and began to make his way towards him. As he passed people of notable importance, he would give them a quick greeting.

" Good evening your Excellency." He said with a nod as he neared the President cautiously. He nodded to another person. " Hello." He looked off to the side and spotted the Prime Minister. " Prime Minister it is a pleasure to have you back in the states." The President began to walk past him, talking about campaigns.

" Happy Birthday, Mr. President." Ben said with a smile. The President nodded to him.

" Thank you." He said.

" Ben Gates." Ben said. " The Templar Treasure?" The President and the two people he'd been talking to turned and looked at Ben.

" Oh! Right! Ben Gates, yeah." He said, facing him.

" We won't keep you, Mr. President." Said the man he'd been talking to. The two exchanged farewells and the President turned back to Ben.

" I cannot tell you what an _honor_ it is to be invited here tonight." Ben said with a happy smile, still silently praying that the plan would work… it _had_ to work…

" Yeah, you must have the secret service hopping right now." The President said. What? Did he know what he was trying to do? Ben swallowed nervously.

" Sir?" Ben asked in worry.

" Providing your newly discovered lineage." The President said.

" Oh! Oh, yeah… That…" Ben said with a slight amount of relief that hopefully didn't show. " I beg your pardon, sir, but I know what a huge admirer you are of George Washington, and I thought you might want to take a look at this." Ben said, opening the map. The President took it with curiosity, his eyes widening slightly in wonder. " Have a look at that."

The map had a drawing of the hotel, a floor plan and a diagram of a secret passage somewhere in the basement.

" This… is a map of Mount Vernon drawn by George Washington himself." The President said with a smile to Ben. Ben grinned.

" Mr. President, that is exactly what it is!" Ben said.

" I was an architectural history major at Yale." He explained. Ben pretended to be shocked.

" I did not know that!" He lied. Well, of course he knew that- that was one of the base ideas to the whole plan. " It belonged to my great uncle, he got it from the granddaughter of a slave named Charlotte-" A man interrupted him, wishing the President a happy birthday.

" Thanks, always good to see you, Tom." He said as the man walked off, still looking at the map… Ben blinked a few times, trying to regain his thoughts.

" Charlotte… uh… who lived here and worked here at Mount Vernon. And, uh, we're standing _right here_, sir." Ben said pointing to a spot on the map. " This line is an underground tunnel, an escape route that was never found." Ben said tracing the tunnel, nodding. He waited for the President to say something.

" I wonder… I wonder if its still there." The President said, looking at Ben slyly, a gleam in his eye. Ben smiled.

" Well…" He said trailing off as the President covered his mouth, chuckling. " There's only one way to find out."

" Well, maybe we should take a look." The President suggested. A look of almost real surprise passed over Ben's face.

" Are we allowed to do that?" Ben asked. The President gave him a look. Ben laughed. " No, I mean I know _you're_ allowed to do that, you're the President! Can I come with you?"

As the President and Ben climbed down the stairs to the basement of the building, they came across another guard. The President laughed, shinning his flashlight on the map.

" You guys are everywhere, aren't you?" He asked.

" Yes, sir." The guard replied.

" Give my friend your flashlight." He said. The guard handed the flashlight to Ben, who said,

" Thank you." In return.

" Well, according to this map, it should be…" The President shone the light into a few rooms. " In one… two. In here." He said shinning the light into an empty stone room. " Yeah, should be in here." They bent down, looking into the short doorway.

" May I?" Ben asked the President, gesturing to the room.

" Of course, go ahead." He replied. Ben ducked through the doorway, entering the room. The President began to follow, the guard following him. He turned and looked at him.

" You know, Craig, I… I _appreciate_ you doing your job, but I have no enemies down here." He smiled. " In the cellar. In this tiny little room." The President said to Craig.

" I'll just wait here then." Replied Craig, standing up against the wall. The President nodded and smiled, ducking into the room. The guard went to peer in, but the President looked back out, giving him a look. Craig stepped back again.

" Over here." Ben told the President, who ducked back inside. Ben had his flashlight shinning on a stone emblem in the corner of the room.

" That's the mark of George Washington." The President said.

" Only its slightly different…" Ben muttered. True, this whole thing was a plot to kidnap the President, but, it was also discovering a new place, a historically relevant place, and it still intrigued Ben to no end.

" How?"

" These axes," Ben said gesturing to the carving. " The angle is off. If they were to correspond to the ones on the map, is should form a perfect v…" Ben reached out, pushing the axe on the left further to the left. It moved and there was a click. The President smiled at him. Ben smiled back. " Okay, what else?" The President tapped on the map.

" The arrowhead…" He said. " Is sideways…" He reached out, turning the arrowhead to its proper position. There was a loud rumble and a section in the wall by his shoulder moved, making a small doorway. Both he and Ben gasped, looking at each other. " We're alright! Don't worry!" He called to the guards in the hall. He and Ben pushed against the section in the wall, and it opened, revealing cobwebs and a metal gate, and more importantly, a secluded passage way.

" Come on." The President said, climbing through the small door way. He shone his flashlight around the passage, amazed at what they had found. Ben climbed through, quickly turning around and shutting the door. The President turned and looked at Ben. What on earth was he doing?

Outside, back in the cellar, the two guards looked into the room, finding it empty.

" Mr. President?" He asked. He quickly rushed in. " We have a breach in zone nine!" He said hurriedly into a small microphone in his sleeve, bending over, trying to find a way to pry the doorway open again- it was no use.

" Mr. President, sometime between eighteen eighty when the Resolute desk was placed in the Oval Office, and now, one of our Presidents found a secret compartment in the desk." Ben began to tell the President as he looked around the passage, presumably for a way out, seeing as they couldn't exit the way they came in- it was impossible. " Inside it was a plank with Native American writing on it. A treasure map to Cibola." The President turned to look at him. " The legendary City of Gold, sir." He said. The President smirked and gestured around the damp stone room they were in with his flashlight.

" And you did all this just to ask me about a treasure map?" He asked.

" That map is a possible key to proving Thomas Gates' innocence." Ben told him. The President looked at him again before going through a cobweb-clad doorway, looking down the small passage. " Now I know for a fact that the plank is no longer in the desk."

" You've been in my desk too?" He questioned, shinning his flashlight's beam on Ben. He turned it away, using it to peer through the cobwebs.

" _But_, I believe the whereabouts of that plank is now hidden… in the president's book, sir." The President froze. " The book known only to our presidents." The President turned to look at him. " It contains all of our nation's secrets."

The President laughed, looking down.

" That's the most _ridiculous_ thing I have _ever_ heard." He said looking at Ben.

" I saw the seal in the desk, sir." Ben said. The President stepped forward, cobwebs clinging to his suit's jacket, refusing to let go. " I know the map exists."

" And you're not gonna tell me how to get out of here till I tell you what you want?"

" The way out is in that direction." Ben said gesturing to a doorway with the flashlight. " And I'll show you."

" You don't negotiate very well, do you?" The President questioned. Ben smirked, thinking back to how Sadusky told him that he didn't know how to use a bargaining chip back when they were talking about the Declaration of Independence a year ago.

" No, sir."

Back out in the hall, guards were trying to open the doorway, shouting for the President. One guard called for sledgehammers while another began to pound on the wall with his flashlight. All ignored the now perfect emblem of George Washington, which was staring at them, right in the face.

Ben was leading the President towards the exit. Both were covered in cobwebs and dust, hair becoming disheveled, and both searching the dark.

" I don't get you, Gates." The President stated. A lot of people seemed to say that… " You're willing to do all of this, to go to prison, all to clear your ancestor's name." Ben stopped in front of a doorway, which led to a set of winding stairs.

" He way out is just down those stairs." He said, flashlight illuminating the black metal. He looked over to the President. " Everything I am is because of my ancestors, sir. Just ask my friend, she'll tell you I've said this before. Thomas Gates gave his last full measure of devotion to his country to stop the KGC. When someone dies for their country, I believe they should be honored."

" 'Last full measure of devotion'?"

" Lincoln is my favorite president, sir. No offence." Ben added. The President smirked.

" None taken." He said, walking through the doorway. " He's my favorite too."

" Sir, I _know_ the book exists. And my question is… will you agree to let me see it?" Ben asked as they descended the stairs. The President turned to look at him at the base of the stairs.

" Even if something like that _did_ exist, why do you think I would actually just give it to you?" He questioned.

" Because it will probably lead us to the discovery of the greatest Native American treasure of all time. A _huge_ piece of culture lost. You can give that history back to its descendants and, because, you are the President of the United States, sir. Whether by innate character, the oath you took to defend the constitution, or the weight of history that falls upon you, I believe you to be an honorable man, sir." Ben told him.

" Gates, people don't believe in that stuff anymore." He said.

" They want to believe it." Ben told him.

Finding the wooden door that was their exit, Ben shoved against it a few times until it opened. Ben stepped out and helped the President through. They were in a tiny opening amongst the forest, night disguising all the harmless creatures that were probably lurking in the forest.

" Nearest highway is in that direction." Ben said. " You'll understand if we part ways here." Ben began to walk away.

" Gates?"

" Sir?" Ben asked, turning back.

" The following conversation _never_ happened. The book exists." He said.

" Where is it?" Ben inquired.

" Where else to you keep a book? In the Library of Congress. X, Y, two, three, four, seven, eight, six."  
>" Thank you sir." Ben said, beginning to turn away.<p>

" You'll also need to know; three, seven, nine, four." The President told him.

" Thanks." Ben said, turning.

" And, Gates…"

" Sir?"

" Two hundred people know you held me against my will, I can't tell them why. Unless you find what you're looking for, you'll be charged with kidnapping the President. You know what that means?" He asked. His face was composed in a look of seriousness.

" Yes, sir. Very much so, sir." Ben told him.

" Gates, I want you to do something for me." He said.

" It would be a privilege, sir." Ben said.

" Page forty-seven. Just have a look at that." He asked. Ben gave a nod before he walked off, trying to find where Patrick had parked his car. Well, this part of the plan was a success. Now, they just had to go find the book…

_**Afterword: Hey, I'm still so sorry about the late updates! Who knew that school can get so crazy with plays and musicals and homework and term projects and all that jolly good fun stuff XD Well, I hope to be able to update faster! I hope you liked the chapter! I know that it was mostly movie stuff without much Arabella in it, but, you know, she doesn't want to get arrested, I mean, who could blame her? Her life is going pretty well! In the next chapter they find the book! YAY! =D**_

_** Okay, time for acknowledgements! Thanks to all my reviewers:**_ grapejuice101, fantasyluver714, FanFictionLover16, _**and**_ Chuu112._** Thanks for reviewing! I'm so glad that you guys liked the last chapter and hope you like this one! And thank you to all those who have favorited this story and to those who have put this story on their story alert. Thanks to all of you! It makes me happy knowing you like my stories!**_

_** I'll update as soon as possible! I hope you guys liked the chapter! Reviews make my world go round and keep me very happy! So, please review! Thanks! **_

_**~Mary**_


	11. Chapter Eleven: The Book

_Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movies or any of the characters. I only own Arabella._

Chapter Eleven: The Book

_**Arabella's Point of View:**_

It was probably around eight thirty. I was sprawled across the couch with my head on Riley's lap, and Abigail was sitting in the small armchair beside the couch. We'd been waiting for Ben to call, and we'd all been watching TV. I had ended up falling asleep a few times, but with Riley as my pillow I didn't really care. Riley's hand was softly stroking my hair, and I couldn't help but smile and relax. We'd all been waiting nervously, hoping that the plan hadn't gone awry. Abigail and Riley talked as I kept slipping in and out of consciousness, but I was fully awake when I heard a phone ring. As everyone realized it was Riley's I quickly sat up as he scrambled to answer.

" Yeah?" Riley asked as he put the phone up to his ear. He listened, nodded and then hung up. " We need to get to the Library of Congress!" We all jumped up, running towards the apartment door. We jumped into Abigail's car and quite literally began to speed down the street.

" Library of Congress- hidden in plain sight." I said from my spot in the back seat.

" I know, right?" Riley said as we tore around the corner.

When we got to the Library of Congress we jumped out of the car and ran up the steps, spotting Ben in his tux.

" Hey." Ben said as we caught up with him. " We're close." We walked into the Library of Congress, went through the metal detectors and followed Abigail, seeing as she was the one with a pass that could actually get us inside.

" Where do we start?" Riley asked as we entered the research room we'd been in only a year ago, contemplating our first heist.

" X, Y is the book classification code." Abigail told him as we paused and looked at the floors and floors of books towering around us, concealed by marble archways and locked doors.

" Stands for special collections, which are very, _very_ special books. Where are they?" Ben asked shoving a hand in his pocket as he looked around.

" This way." Abigail said turning to her right. " We'll have to sneak in." We quickly followed her, trying not to look _too_ suspicious. We managed to sneak between shelves of books, trying to find the doorway that would lead to the staircase, but unfortunately, those doors were constantly locked and only for registered employees. We found the door and we stood back, hoping to come up with a way to open them.

" Riley, do you think there is anyway that you could figure out how to open the doors?" Ben inquired.

" Uh, Ben, there is no electronic lock! I can deal with computers! I can't deal with normal locks!" Riley whispered back as the two began to argue. I heard the door open and I looked at the old man pushing a book cart through.

" Or we could just… you know… stop the door from closing." I told them running forward on my toes and shoving my hand between the doors, stopping them from closing. The others quickly followed me and we all slipped through the green doors. We ran up flights of stairs till we got to the top floor. We ran onto the balcony, trying not to be seen.

" Here we go! XA, XM…" Abigail said as she looked at the classification codes. We exited through an arched doorway and onto another landing at the top of a set of stairs. We ran over to a door and found a keypad. We needed a code. I saw the same seal that we found in the Resolute Desks on it. I pointed to it.

" Look. Ben, do you have a code?" I asked. He hit the numbers as he spoke.

" Three, seven, nine, four." He muttered as each number lit up green. They all blinked and the lock buzzed. Ben grabbed the door handle, pulled it down and pushed it open. I smiled at Riley and Abigail as we walked into a balcony completely surrounded by books. We walked under shelves as we searched for a number, but then I realized Ben hadn't told us the number.

" What number did the President give you?" I asked, looking at the hundreds of books.

" Two, three, four, seven, eight, six." Ben told us in a rush. Riley slid a moving ladder away from himself as we all memorized the number and then began to search for it. I scanned the spines of the book, lightly dragging my fingers across them, being careful to stay away from the marble banister so I wouldn't be seen. I felt my heart racing as I searched- there was no doubt that news had gotten to the FBI about the President being kidnapped, and there was no doubt everyone was now looking for Ben, and if they were looking for Ben, they would be looking for me and Riley and Abigail. We're all fugitives again.

" X, Y, two, three- here!" Ben called over to us as he dragged a finger along the shelf. " Two, three, four…" Ben and Abigail dragged their fingers towards each other's, looking for the book. When their fingers touched, at exactly the point where the book should be, it wasn't there. " It's not there."

" Maybe someone checked it out." Riley muttered in his monotone. Ben pulled out a book and flipped through it, hoping to find something. I rolled my eyes at Riley's previous comment.

" I don't think anyone would be allowed to check out the President's Secret Book, Riley. You should know that, you wrote your own book." I teased him while looking over Ben's shoulder.

" Why would he send us here if there's no book?" Abigail asked as a look of confusion and annoyance crossed her face.

" Probably wanted us to get caught…" Riley told us. Ben went to put the book back but apparently spotted something. He froze, looking at the shelf.

" Here." Ben said, handing the book to Riley as we all followed his gaze. I saw a piece of brass stuck on the upper shelf. Ben dragged a ladder over and climbed up so he could be level with the shelf and then began to remove more books, handing them all to Riley, who was staggering under the weight of the books. When he cleared enough books, he leaned in to peer at the brass object.

" What is that?" Abigail asked.

" It's a six-dial combination lock." Ben explained. He removed one more book, which I took for Riley, who looked about ready to collapse. " The location is the combination."

" The location is the combination…" Riley muttered as we watched Ben turn the small tumblers. After a moment, a hidden shelf dropped down and in that shelf was a leather bound book, tied off with a leather string. Riley let out a breathless laugh, just about ready to grin. Ben gently grabbed the book, climbing down the ladder.

" Yes. I was right!" Riley whispered in triumph. I grinned and gave him a one armed hug and a kiss on the cheek.

" Well done, Mr. Poole." Ben complimented him as Riley broke out into a grin. We turned to the table behind us and Riley dropped his books on it as Ben undid the string around the book.

" The eagle and the scroll!" Riley said grinning at us. Abigail grinned back as I took Riley's hand and we watched Ben open the book. He slid on his glassed, picked up the book and began to carefully flip through.

" Area fifty-one!" Riley said jabbing his finger into the book to stop Ben. " There!" Ben shoved his hand away and shushed him as he continued to flip through the book. We saw pictures of Kennedy and Riley interrupted again. " It's the Kennedy assassination!"

" Shh! We don't have time!" Ben told him.

" Yeah, it's true." Riley said as he cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed. I gave his hand a squeeze and we continued to watch.

" Here. Wait." Ben said stopping at a page. He looked at the entry and began to read it out loud. " 'April eighteen sixty-five, Queen Victoria sends Pike two coded missives. The first is received. Contains information regarding New World treasure. The City of Gold.'"

" Wait. The Queen wanted to help the Confederacy?" Riley asked.

" Well, a divided America would have been less powerful and less easy to control. And they also needed cotton from the South." I explained as Ben continued.

" 'The second missive was thought to contain a playfair cipher suggesting contact with Laboulaye, who will hide clues before his death.' That was the cipher that was written into the Booth diary page, the one that Thomas tried to burn." Ben told us.

" The one we have." Riley said.

" Exactly. 'Eighteen eighty, Resolute Desk arrives in Washington, from Queen to President Hayes.'" Ben flipped the page to find a brown toned picture of the missing plank. " Look at that." Ben said holding it up. Abigail and I smiled and Abigail carefully took the picture, looking down at it.

" Missing plank from the White House. Wow." She said. Ben scanned the page and looked at us.

" Here's the final entry from President Coolidge. 'Nineteen twenty-four, I found a plank in secret desk compartment. Plank photographed and then destroyed. Borglum commissioned to destroy landmarks in sacred Black Hills Mountains.'" Ben said as we all paused in thought.

" Borglum?" Abigail asked.

" Does he mean… Mount Rushmore? Oh my God…"

" He carved Mount Rushmore, to erase the map's landmarks, in order to protect the City of Gold." Ben said.

" Mount Rushmore was a cover-up…" Riley muttered with a laugh. Suddenly, the blaring of a police siren caught my ears. " What is it?" We rushed over to a tiny window and saw a team of squad cars pulling up to the Library of Congress. Riley groaned. " There's my tax dollars at work, coming to arrest me." He said with a sigh looking back at us.

" They're not coming for you, Riley, they're coming for me. Go to the car." Ben told us as he pulled out his phone.

" No, Ben!" Abigail protested.

" You don't expect us to just… leave you here do you?" I asked in shock.

" Go! I'll meet up with you!" He insisted. Riley turned to go out the way we came but Abigail grabbed his arm and dragged him in the opposite direction.

" This way!" She said as I followed them. We rushed down the stairs, skipping steps as we went, and then we rushed our way across the main floor of the rotunda, and towards the help desks in the center. We snuck our way behind the desk and found the door in the center that lead down farther. We snuck through the door and began to clatter our way down the steps.

" Do you think we'll ever not have to try and escape the police?" Riley questioned. I let out a laugh.

" After helping Ben once last year, and seeing as we're helping him now, no, I think we'll be doing this for a long time." I said as we turned a corner on the steps and continued rushing down.

" Fun." Riley said in a monotone. We eventually found our way to a room that appeared to be for organizing books, and the workers there gave us funny looks as we dashed through. I mean, we certainly didn't belong there, and seeing as we were also running and out of breath, it made us stand out more. And as we continue to rush out, police officers rushed after us, trying to find us.

**_Afterword:_ Hey! Sorry for the late update DX I've been so busy with my life seeming to be going haywire in some stressful ways and yeah. I have tons of lines to memorize and half a book to read for English class. Fun. DX But, I hope you liked it! Sorry it's short and ends in a funny place- I figured I'd post this just to keep updates slightly regular.**

** I'd like to thank my reviewers: **HeraOfTheStars, grapejuice101, **and** fantasyluver714. **Thanks you guys! I loved the reviews! Every once and a while I think people have stopped reading my stories due to the infrequent updates now DX But you guys have proved me wrong! And thanks to all of you who have favorited or added this story to their story alert. Thanks guys!**

** Just a few announcements: For those who read my Phantom of the Opera story, I hope to get the chapter up in the next few days- I ran into some technical difficulties with my computer wiping out half the chapters. And another announcement, those who have read my _Titanic_ fanfic, I'm going to be editing/rewriting parts of it.**

** ANYWAY, Thanks for reading! PLLLEEEAAASSEEEE review to keep my confidence up! Thanks!**

**~Mary**


	12. Chapter Twelve: Here We Come!

_Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movie or any of the characters. I only own my OC Arabella._

_**Foreword: SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! GOD I FEEL SO HORRIBLE! DX I've been caught up with school… uhg… But, I'M BACK AND ALIVE! =D Also, just to let you know, this has more original scenes that came from my head cause I kinda needed to fill in some time between the car chase and Mount Rushmore. That means it's time for… MORE RIBELLA-NESS! =D WOO! Enjoy my friends!**_

Chapter Twelve: Mount Rushmore, Here We Come!

I could feel my breath coming quickly, passing through my lips in a rush. We finally came to a heavy metal door and Abigail shoved it open. We passed through; panic beginning to show itself on Riley's face. I quickly realized why he was panicking, and I felt it beginning to rise in my chest as well.

" Okay, question." I said. " How do we find Ben? I mean… Just how?" I questioned.

" I don't know." Abigail admitted, her blond hair swinging around in her ponytail.

" Let's just… get to the car and figure something out." Riley said, grabbing my hand nervously, his warm fingers squeezing mine. As we rounded a corner, we heard,

" Hold it!" We jumped to a halt as two police officers stood before us, shinning flashlights in our faces. " Who are you?" They questioned.

" We work here!" Abigail and I said at the same time, Riley quickly nodding.

" ID's?"

" We were told to evacuate!" Abigail said handing the police officer her ID.

" I mean, we were just standing there, doing our jobs and it was out of the blue! Our boss told us we needed to evacuate and I'm just so confused…" I began to say as we all launched into our own stories at the same time, maybe being able to convince and confuse the officers.

" I don't know what's going on up there!" Riley said, hand still holding mine, but we stood close enough together for them not to see.

" My car's parked in that special section over there." Abigail said gesturing to her car. I looked up to the roof and saw Ben's figure scurrying on the edge, trying to get down. He was out… we just had to get him away from security safely. That should be an exciting little task, shouldn't it?

" Really, you have nothing to worry about, we're just nervous!" I said. I began to glance frantically around myself in attempt to appear more frantic. I looked at Riley and said a few quick things to him before turning to the second officer, basically going on my little rant to him. Did the two officers care? Probably not. All they needed to know is if we were actually workers here, and Abigail's ID should do the trick.

" I don't know what's happening! One moment I'm reading a nice book and then the next second we're getting rushed out!" Riley said. The officer gave Abigail her ID back.

" Go ahead." He said. " Be ready to show your ID's when you exit."

" Thank you! Thank you so much!" We all said, quickly walking over to Abigail's car.

" Best of luck!" Riley called after them, jumping down the steps. We waved to another officer.

" Night." I said as the car unlocked. Riley jumped into the front passengers seat and I jumped in the back, Abigail at the wheel.

" We're getting good at that." I commented as we all put on our seat belts.

" Yeah, a bit _too_ good. Start the car." Riley said. I saw Ben drop to the ground, hiding behind the car, out of sight of the law enforcement. Abigail quickly started the car. " Put it in gear." At our hesitance to leave, another officer stepped in front of the car.

" Not good." I said as he shone his flashlight on our faces.

" What's the problem? You're clear, let's go!" He said, waving us forward. The man stared at our scared faces obviously becoming suspicious, before beginning to reach for the radio on his shoulder.

" We're going to jail." Riley muttered. I reached forward, taking his hand. He looked back at me, worried.

" If that's true, remember I love you. And that I always will." I told him. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and he gave me a smile that was marred by fear.

" We might go to jail, but not right at this moment." Abigail told us. Her hand moved to the door and she quickly clicked a button, the trunk opening. She hit the gas petal and sped forward, the officer jumping out of the way, falling to the concrete below. Ben took off, chasing the car, ready to jump in. He made a leap, landing inside. I quickly ripped off my seat belt and helped him pull himself inside.

" He's in! Go!" Riley told Abigail, who sped up more.

" Hang on!" She called to us. We hit a bump, causing us to jar upward and then down again. I was suddenly reminded of Riley's red van and of the first car chase I'd been in a year ago. Good old times… I felt myself slam into the seat on my injured arm, which began to sting again, causing me to hiss in pain. Ben yanked the trunk closed and gripped onto the backseat as we swung around a corner. I slid across the back seat, bracing myself against the door.

Red and blue lights flashed behind us and as I looked out the back window, spotting a cop car. I could see the panic on Ben's face, and as we sped forward, he shouted,

" Drive, drive, drive!" The security gate was trying to lift the barricade- a set of thick, shining, silver, metal poles, meant to stop a car.

" Abigail…" I said in worry, watching as they slowly began rising from the ground. She glared at the metal poles.

" I don't think so!" She yelled as she sped up even more.

" Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Riley yelled, grabbing my hand again as we went over the poles, the back bumper flying off. There was a crash and a glance behind us confirmed that the cop car had smashed into what didn't stop us. I let out a sigh of relief, dropping my head to the back of Riley's seat.

" Now we're _really_ back into the swing of things from last year, huh?" I joked quietly, rubbing the stinging spot on my arm.

" That… did _not_ turn out the way it was supposed to!" Riley pointed out as we continued down the road.

" How'd they find us so quickly?" Questioned Abigail as Ben climbed into the back seat with me. I'd honestly like to know that too, so that way I could kick the ass of whoever told the cops…

" I'll tell you how! The president is a _tattletale!_" Riley said in annoyance. Okay, maybe I _wouldn't_ kick the ass of whoever told the cops… especially if that person was the president. I liked not being in prison.

" Sadusky." Ben said, still trying to catch his breath. His face was gleaming with sweat and he looked exhausted. " He was there and he knows more about the book than I originally thought." Ben muttered, running a hand through his now messy hair.

" Ben? Could I ask you something?" I asked. Ben nodded. " Did the president mind being kidnapped?" I said with a smile.

" He was okay with it." Ben said. I laughed a bit, shaking my head. At least I'd managed to lighten the mood. Riley's head dropped back against the headrest of his seat, and I could hear him let out a deep breath. I released his hand and squeezed his shoulders, leaning forward to kiss his cheek.

" Well, at least we haven't been arrested." I told him. He grunted, resting his head against mine.

" So, Ben. Tell us. How are we going to get the plank translated? Cause I don't really want to travel much more tonight." Riley muttered in a monotone.

" My dad has a picture on his phone. He's going to go see my mom and he'll have her translate it. Then, he'll tell us and we'll see where it takes us from there." Ben said. Riley sighed in relief.

" Good."

" Let's go back to our apartment. Ben, you can get changed and we can await the news." I said.

" Great. More waiting…" Riley muttered. I rolled my eyes and lightly flicked his ear. " Ow! What was that for?"

" Stop whining." I told him simply. I hear him sigh again.

" Maybe having a dog _would_ be better…" He mumbled. I gasped rather loudly, smacking his arm hard. He jumped, grabbing it. " Ow! That _really_ hurt! I was joking!"

" You better hope you are, otherwise you're gonna be the dog and you'll be sleeping on the couch." I said, leaning back in my seat, crossing my arms, leaving Ben and Abigail to chuckle and Riley to continue to plead.

OOOO

When we got back to the apartment, I unlocked the door and ran upstairs, Riley close behind. He was still trying to tell me he'd been joking. I smirked whenever he wasn't looking. I knew he was joking, I just thought it was funny to see him pleading- he rarely ever did it, and when he did, he looked like a little puppy dog.

" Please, Arabella! I really didn't mean it! You know you're so much better than a dog! You know I love you so much!" Riley said as I kicked off my shoes and moved to grab a glass of water from the kitchen.

" Mm-hm." I said in reply, grabbing a glass from the cupboard. I saw Ben and Abigail watching on from the living room, smiling and laughing.

" Arabella…" Riley whined. I turned on the faucet, letting the water gush into the cup. I felt Riley's arms wrap around my waist, and the warmth of his chest met my back. He rested his chin on my shoulder as I began to sip at the water, seeming like I was ignoring him. I felt Riley kiss my cheek and then the side of my neck. His grip around my waist slowly tightened. " Please listen…" He kissed my shoulder again and then brushed hair out of my face. I set the glass down again. " I really didn't mean it. You know I love you so, so, so, so much! I'd never risk loosing you." Riley told me, worry in his voice. I gently pulled his arms from my waist and I turned to face him. I broke out into a smile. I kissed him from a moment.

" I know you were only joking." I told him, turning to walk towards the bathroom. I heard Ben laughing into his hand. I glanced behind me to see Riley staring after me, jaw dropped, blue eyes wide.

" That was just mean…" He muttered. I giggled quietly and walked into the bathroom. I left the door open seeing as I was just going to examine my arm. I pulled off my blue jacket, placing it on the sink counter. I peered at the bandage on my arm to see splotches of blood showing up. I groaned and grabbed a new one from the shelf. I began to unwrap the bloodied wrapping when Riley walked up to the doorway. He stared at my arm for a moment.

" Don't worry, it was only because of the jolting around in the car." I said peeling the gauze pad from the cuts. I tossed them into the trash and then I felt Riley's hands gently take my arm.

" Mind if I look?" He asked. I smiled up at him, nodding my head. Riley looked down at the cuts and reached over to grab the bottle of hydrogen peroxide. He poured some on a washcloth, and then gently dabbed the cuts. I winced a bit, but was thankful for his gentleness. He carefully placed a gauze pad over the still stinging and red cuts, and then gently wrapped a bandage around it.

" Thanks." I told him.

" Anytime." He replied, smoothing out my hair.

" Riley?" He nodded to tell me to go on. " I'm sorry I made you suffer." He laughed suddenly, pulling me into a hug.

" It's fine, at least you weren't actually upset." He said. I laughed a bit too.

" I could never be upset with you. But, you do know if you do _actually_ do something wrong, you _will_ sleep on the couch, right?" I asked him, all seriousness in my voice. He chuckled.

" I know. That's why I plan on being a good Riley." He told me, pulling away. " And I also hope your arm heals up soon." He bent over and lightly kissed the bandage. I laughed lightly and followed him out of the bathroom.

Ben was no longer wearing his tux, which was in a plastic bag on the couch. He was now sitting in an armchair, cell phone on his knee, waiting for Patrick to call to let us know he'd gotten the translation.

" So, anyone want anything to drink?" I asked. " We've got Coke, milk and water."

" Water." Replied Abigail.

" Coke." Said Riley.

" Same." Said Ben.

" I'll help you with all of that." Abigail said with a smile, following me into the kitchen. I filled a glass of water and grabbed a few Cokes, letting Abigail take two.

" So, I take it Riley doesn't have to sleep on the couch?" Abigail asked with a smirk. I laughed a bit.

" Nope. I like teasing him though. He always ends up looking like a puppy dog. It's actually amazingly adorable." I said with a smile. Abigail smiled at me as she filled a glass with one of the cans of Coke.

" You both look so… in love." She commented opening the second can, pouring that into another glass. I blushed.

" Really? That's good. That's _really _good. Sometimes I think I'm dreaming and I'll just wake up any moment and it'll all be over… I feel so lucky to have him… he makes me feel special. Something I haven't felt in a while." I admitted, pouring my Coke into a glass. Abigail was smiling at me, watching me.

" That's good that he makes you feel like that. He loves you a lot. He talks about you even when you're not around. He honestly never shuts up. And not just about you. About anything in _general_." She said with a smirk and a roll of the eyes. There were the kinds of conversations I loved having with Abigail. Just random ones that popped up and made me laugh.

I let out a giggle.

" When does he ever shut up?" I asked, smiling at her as I handed her the glass of water, taking another Coke, leaving her to grab the other. We walked back into the living room, distributing the drinks. I sat beside Riley on the couch as we all waited for Patrick.

OOOO

Patrick arrived back at the apartment about twenty minutes later. We let him in and the immediate question was,

" What's the translation?"

" She said 'Islands of stone in a sea of grass, find where the moon touches the earth and release the hummingbird." Patrick told us. What? That told us basically _nothing_.

" That's stated what we already know. We _know_ that it's around Mount Rushmore. And now all we have is islands of stone and a hummingbird." I said in confusion, setting my empty glass down.

" Hummingbird… Dad, are you _sure_ she said hummingbird?" Ben asked. Patrick gave a sincere nod.

" I'm sure. She said hummingbird no doubt about it." He assured. Ben thought as he paced, and I was sure he would ware a hole into the carpet in the floor. He raised a hand to cover his mouth, his brows furrowed.

" What is it?" Abigail asked.

" The hummingbird…" Ben muttered.

" What about it? It's a bird." Riley said, the most confused out of all of us.

" Dad, did she say _anything else_?"

" Yeah. She said some things about making sacrifices for the family… again." Patrick replied.

" You see, Mom used to tell me a story about Tanagila, which is a Lakota legend. It's about a hummingbird that sacrifices itself to save the moon and the earth, which was its family…" Ben explained to them, his hair falling into his face.

" Oh my God…" I said as realization hit me. This wasn't good. Not at all! Not one bit! " Don't you see? Your Mom _is the hummingbird!_" I stressed when I saw everyone's confused looks.

" Oh no… Mom…" Ben grabbed his phone and began to dial.

" Emily…" Patrick muttered quietly.

" Everyone, get packing! Abigail, Dad, meet us at the airport! Go!" Ben said as he lifted the phone to wait for his mother to pick up.

Riley and I rushed to our room and ran to the closet.

" Just bring a hiking backpack with like… one change of clothes and whatever else would be possibly useful- I'm thinking we'll only need that." I said as I yanked out two hiking backpacks. I tossed one to Riley, who stumbled to catch it before running to tear through his half of the dresser. I quickly tossed in a set of extra clothes and a pair of Converse. I quickly changed into a lightweight grey cotton elbow length sleeved V-neck shirt, a pair of ankle length jeans and pulled on a pair of boots, which I tucked said jeans into. I grabbed a dark blue jacket and pulled out one of Riley's and tossed in a few map books and a first aid kit into the bags as well. When we were done changing and quickly packing, we ran into the living room, where Ben stood, running a hand over his face.

" Is she okay?" I asked.

" She didn't pick up. My guess is that Mitch has her…" Ben said.

" Well let's go! We'll drive you home so you can grab some stuff and then we'll go to the airport! Come on!" I said grabbing my car keys before the three of us rushed out of the apartment, flicking the lights off. Things were getting serious. We couldn't afford to loose any time, or mess anything up.

Life loves to throw curveballs at us.

_**Afterword: I. AM. SO. SO. SO. SO. SOOOOOOO SORRY! My life decided to hate me by throwing in dress rehearsals and Shakespearean monologues and stressful school finals. I've been working on this chapter through all of that, and finally finished it! AND SCHOOL IS OUT FOR ME! =D YAY! I REALLY hope you liked it! And please forgive me for my tardiness on the updates! * Hides behind laptop * I feel horrid…**_

_** Now I go on to thank people! Thank you to:**_ HeraOfTheStars, fantasyluver714, Sammyjo2694, zebrazoe, _**and**_ MidoriPoet. _**Thanks for reviewing you guys! And, thank you to those who have added this story to their story alert or added it to your favorites! All of these things make me happy! It makes me happy! I really hope you guys liked this chapter! And since school is out I'll have more time to write! HOORAY! =D SUMMER! That's when I get the most writing done XD Please review! It would make me the happiest girl on earth! Thanks!**_

_**~Mary**_


	13. ChapterThirteen:The Time BenGets Smacked

_Disclaimer:__ I do not own either National Treasure movie or any of the characters. I only own my OC Arabella. _

Chapter Thirteen: The Time Ben Gets Smacked

When we landed in South Dakota, we were all thankful the plane ride from hell had ended. It wasn't like the flight to or from London, which was fairly relaxed given the circumstances. No, on this flight, all of us were stressed beyond belief. We were all hoping we would be able to get to Mount Rushmore before Mitch, and Ben told us he was going to form a plan to get him surrounded, assuring us that we would get there before him. Also, there happened to be two screaming children who wouldn't shut up and sleep, which was something all of us only got a few hours of.

So, as we got into yet another rental car, Abigail began to say turn-by-turn directions to Mount Rushmore she'd printed out before we'd left DC.

" So, Ben, you said you would come up with a plan. Want to tell us what it is?" I asked, fixing a particularly annoying crease in my jacket.

" Well, he'll be heading up towards the mountain, so we'll wait in differing locations on the way up, we'll each signal to each other, discreetly of course, when Mitch is coming, and we'll surround him." Ben said, making a quick turn. Riley bit his bottom lip and nodded.

" I like it. Nothing dangerous… yet."

OOO

Once at Mount Rushmore we all climbed to a spot Ben told us would be our best bet to wait. The air was cool and Riley and I stood with our backs to the path, a book on Mount Rushmore in his hands. Abigail was across the path, trying to look confused at a map, a hat pulled on over her blond hair. Riley was mindlessly skimming the book in his hands, shifting the weight of his hiking backpack on his shoulders. I looked around at the beautiful scenery, gazing up at the famous landmark carved in white stone.

" Beside the fact that we're here because Ben's mom has been kidnapped and we're once again fearing for our lives and being chased by the FBI, it's beautiful here." I said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. Riley looked up from the book, glancing around as well. He gave a half smile and nodded.

" It is. And leave it to you to be able to see past all the bad things and see the beauty." Riley told me with a chuckle, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. I laughed a bit.

" Well, being the history geek that I am, I still find it amazing that it had just been a plain mountain but after years of carving, fourteen years to be exact, this would become a major national landmark." I muttered, glancing down the path. I saw Emily's familiar face and I nudged Riley and we pretended to look at the book. Riley glanced at Emily and her escort of three men, including Mitch, and he whistled quietly in what was probably supposed to sound like a birdcall. Abigail, who was talking to a park ranger about the map in her hands, looked over towards Ben, who caught her glance and nodded.

As Mitch began to take Emily further up, Ben, who stood beside Patrick, turned to look at him.

" Hello, Mitch." Said Ben as he peered at said man through a pair of dark tinted, circular sunglasses, his jaw tight. Mitch stared at Ben in shock, obviously not expecting to see him here. Immediately, the man who was holding Emily's arm took a gun from his pocket, pressing it to Emily's side, something I could see even though we were walking up behind them. " Mom…"

A group of kids rushed by, and everyone went momentarily silent, waiting for them to pass. I began to sneak forward more, Riley desperately grabbing for my arm in means to stop me. There was _no way_ I was going to let Ben stand alone against this admittedly creepy guy. And, in truth, I wasn't too happy with Mitch; he's the one who caused the car chase that injured my arm and he'd kidnapped Emily, who was basically a family member to me.

" I _knew _you'd figure out the message I gave your father!" Said Emily with a smile.

" The hummingbird was good. Let her go, Mitch."

" We're the one's with fire power, and you're giving me orders?" Mitch asked, scoffing.

" I kidnapped the president." Ben told him. Everyone who hadn't heard of said happenings froze and stared at him.

" The FBI is looking for him." I said, running to stand beside my best friend, eyebrow raised, arms crossed. I could almost feel Riley and Ben shout 'that was a stupid move, Arabella!' at me mentally. Oh well. " They'll show up here without a doubt at some point, and I'm pretty sure they would _love_ to meet you." Ben gave me a look from the corner of his eye before continuing.

" They'll find us both and arrest us both. And that doesn't lead to the City of Gold, does it?" Ben told him. A look of contemplation appeared on Mitch's face. His chilling blue eyes stayed locked on Ben's face.

" Ben, this man has information you need!" Interjected Emily, leaning towards her son. " He's got a letter-"

" Sent from Queen Victoria." I said, remembering what we had read in the President's book.

" To General Albert Pike." Ben finished the statement, both of us staring at Mitch.

" How do you know that?" He asked sharply, eyes narrowed.

" I read about it, in a book." Ben said, not letting his gaze stray. I saw Riley staring at us nervously, fiddling with his Mount Rushmore book. Then, in the tense silence, Riley flinched and swatted at some bugs, pulling a face of surprise and annoyance.

" I'm afraid he's burned it…" Said Emily sadly, looking down. Mitch smirked and I felt my mouth drop open. Burned it! What was it with all these people destroying major historical treasures! First Ian Howe with _The Charlotte_ and now Mitch with that letter! God, someone needs to teach them historical value…

" Alright…" Ben straightened out his sunglasses. " You've had me do all the work so far, why stop now? You tell me what _you_ know, I'll find the City of Gold, prove Thomas Gates' innocence and you can have all the treasure." Ben said as if he'd made the plan in advance, which he probably did the moment Mitch smirked. Suddenly, Riley turned back to stare at us.

" _What?_" Riley asked, looking confused. Riley didn't look too happy with that last statement…

" I'm going with you, but if anyone's getting credited with finding the City of Gold, it's going to be me." Mitch said, stepping forward intimidatingly, staring at Ben.

" But you have to have your partners stay here. And the guns stay too." I told Mitch, making his gaze cut over to me.

" She's right." Commented Ben.

" What makes you think I'd agree to that?" Questioned Mitch, turning to face me. I looked over at Ben, and then I looked back at the man in front of me.

" Because you need it. Believe me, Ben and I both know."

" Alright, Gates, Miss Fletcher, we'll do it your way." Mitch said, removing a gun from his pocket, handing it to the man holding Emily, who finally released her arm. " But believe me… I don't need the guns." That sounded suspiciously like a threat. After a stare off between Ben and Mitch, Ben shouldered his bag and continued up the wooden steps, Mitch following. I stood off to the side to wait for Riley, and as Emily and Patrick passed I could hear Emily questioning in a panic,

" Which president? _The _President!"

" I thought it best not to tell you…" Muttered Patrick, staring down at his feet.

Riley rushed over and as we stared walking, Abigail following behind us, he gave me a distressed look.

" Why'd you do that!" He asked. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

" What, help Ben? He's still like my brother, I'm going to help him. And I wanted to make sure I don't get held hostage with a gun pressed under my chin like last time." I told Riley, giving him a look that said 'yeah, remember that?' and he grimaced, looking down.

" Good point… But next time think it over a tad bit more before just running past two guys with guns." Riley told me and I could hear Abigail laugh behind us. I laughed as well, fixing the strap of my bag. " What? How was that funny?"

" You said 'next time.' You're expecting this to happen again." I informed him, playfully pushing his shoulder.

" Well, don't you think it could happen again?"

" Very easily. I just think it's funny you're _already_ expecting it, that's all!" I teased. Riley gave a role of his bright blue eyes and we continued the hike.

We hiked to the base of Mount Rushmore and started up a precarious looking set of metal stairs that were set into the craggy rock in the side of the mountain. The metal creaked and groaned under our feet and I could hear Riley muttering not to look down, and I wasn't sure if that was to me or to himself, but I took his advice and didn't look down, my fear of heights still going strong. The tedious hike to the top of the mountain then led us to a lake behind the mountain, where groups of rocks jutted out from the dark blue water. Islands of stone, like the clue said. After once again hiking through some trees and brush, we made it to the largest of the stone islands.

Noticing Riley was trying to figure out how to get up on it, I took a few steps back and took a bit of a running start, pushing my feet into the best possible foot hold, I then grabbed onto the cold rock and heaved myself up. I smirked down at Riley, who was staring at me, mouth agape. I let out a laugh and held out a hand to help him.

" How did you…?"

" Went hiking a lot with my parents when I was little. You learn a few tricks here and there." I explained, grasping his warm hand when he placed it in mine. It took a minute or two of his feet scraping against the stone, but he got up, brushing his coat off like nothing happened. I gave him a one armed hug as we started to follow the others, ready for the next bit.

" Everyone, we're looking for a noble bird!" Emily reminded us as we all began to scan the rock under our feet. There were large cracks and places where you had to jump from place to place to avoid dropping down into the water below. I had to admit, I preferred this to the, I quote Riley, 'creepy tunnel inside the tomb' and the rickety wooden walkways beneath Trinity Church.

So, that began our search for a noble bird. I looked for carvings or old Native American carvings, anything that would resemble a bird. Maybe an… odd shaped rock resembling an… eagle? Oh, hell, I don't know!

" I still don't see anything that looks like a noble bird!" Called out Abigail and I let out a sigh of relief, so I wasn't the only one.

" Thank you, Abigail, I completely agree!" I called out as well, running a hand through my wind-tangled hair.

" Alright, Mitch. Let's have it." Ben said, staring down at mentioned man, who was sitting down. " What's the clue from Queen Victoria's letter?" We all paused and turned to Mitch, waiting to listen for the clue.

" 'The entrance shall only be revealed under a cloudless rain.' Figure that one out." Said Mitch. We all looked up to the sky.

" Well… it's certainly cloudless." I said, staring at the bright blue expanse above us.

" So… We… come back when it's raining?" Asked Riley from where he stood on the edge of the rock. He was looking around, eyes squinted in the sun.

" 'Cloudless' could simply mean the sun." Ben said, beginning to analyze the clue, which was what he did best. " You need a sunny day _and_ rain."

" Okay, so now we have to wait for a sun-shower?" I asked sarcastically and very quietly to myself, referring to when it rains and it was sunny. I liked it when that happened, it was always cool. Then I thought of something. Water bottles… " Wait! We just need water!" I exclaimed, heaving my hiking bag from my shoulders. I crouched down and began to unzip it. I caught a glance of Riley holding out his arms and spreading them out, palms up like he was trying to feel raindrops.

" Water." He repeated. Ben was doing the same as I was, and when we both had an open water bottle, we spattered some of it onto the rock. Staring at it, the rock turned darker. I smirked.

" Clever…" I muttered.

" Abigail!" Ben said, tossing her a water bottle.

" Everyone, the rocks are darker when their wet!" I called out, tossing a bottle to Riley, who caught it neatly and unscrewed the lid.

" Use the water!" Ben called out.

" Em? Water?" Patrick asked Emily. She gave him a look.

" What's this in my hand? Are you blind?"

" Good, good, good." He muttered, turning away. I smirked. That exchange was kind of awkwardly adorable.

Riley was turning in circles where he stood, splashing the water out onto the rock, staring at it as it changed shades, hoping to catch sight of something. I poured some around where I was crouched, but the only thing that showed up were the cracks in the rock only visible when wet. I turned to search another spot, just hearing Emily mutter,

" What, are we going to water the entire thing?"

_If we have to…_ I thought to myself, emptying the last of my water bottle onto the rock.

" Over here! Found it! Over here!" Called out Abigail and I snatched my bag, leaping over a large crack in the rock. All of us carefully but quickly made our way over large cracks to Abigail, who was crouching in front of a large stone sat atop another one with a hole in between. Around the hole in between the stones the impression of a bird was visible amongst the water-darkened stone.

" Look at this! It's an eagle!" Abigail said as Ben crouched beside her, running his hand across the stone. Hah! Eagle! So I got that bit right.

" 'The Noble Bird.'" Ben said quietly.

" 'Will give you passage.'" Finished Emily, crouching down as well. I smiled and leaned down and touched the stone, shaking my head. Unbelievable… Unbelievable yet so totally believable at the same time.

" So, what do we do now?" I asked.

" I think," Began Riley from behind us, and when I looked over at him he was clasping his hands together. " We need to join hands, and in a noble manor, pass over the bird." He said gesturing over the rock. I smiled but shook my head. No, we didn't need to do that, but it was a good thought, a rather funny one too. Emily gave Riley a look, clearly not used to his comments. " No? Okay…" Riley began to think again, as did everyone else.

" Maybe it… indicates direction." Suggested Patrick.

" And somehow, that bird, will rise from the rock, and kind of… caw… caw." Riley continued, flapping his arms like a bird, imitating the caw of a crow. I laughed a bit, trying to think of what else it could mean.

" You can stand here and keep guessing for a while, or I can give you the next clue." Mitch said, walking over. We all quieted down and looked over at him, where he stood with his arms crossed. " 'Surrender your hand to the heart of the warrior.'" He told us, and that sent us into another bout of contemplation.

" And the eagle is the symbol of the warrior." Said Emily as we stared at the hole in the rock that the eagle surrounded. Ben lifted his hand in contemplation, rubbing his fingers together. Then, he began to stick his hand into the dark hole.

" Ben, no, wait, wait!" At the comment from his mother, Ben removed his hand, looking over at her. " No! That's probably some horrible trap! Tell him!" She said smacking Patrick's arm.

" It's a horrible trap." Patrick said immediately.

" It would be a pity to come this far and not even try, now, wouldn't it?" Pressured Mitch, obviously not caring it there was a trap that could kill us all or cost Ben his hand. Ben looked back at the hole.

" I'll do it, Ben." Said Riley after a quiet moment. I looked at him in disbelief. Ben looked up and shook his head. I grabbed Riley's hand tightly.

" It's okay." He whispered, looking to Abigail, who shakily nodded. " Surrender your hand…" Then, slowly, Ben reached out and put his hand back into the hole. We were all silent. The moments were creeping my tensely, and the only sound was the breeze rustling tree branches, and, if you listened closely, you could probably hear the ticking of someone's watch.

Then, when up to his elbow had been into the hole, Ben let out a loud scream. Abigail jumped and covered her mouth, both his parents rushed forward worried, Riley screamed with Ben and I grabbed onto Riley, who held me close as we stared in horror. Ben's loud scream of presumed agony then turned into a laugh as he looked back at us all.

" I am sorry… I… I couldn't resist!" Ben told us, and for a moment, I got a glimpse of the troublesome teenager Ben that would have done the same thing, and I rolled my eyes angrily, pulling away from Riley. Patrick let out a chuckle and Abigail smacked Ben's arm. I walked over and stared down at him and he smiled up at me. And then, he had to know it was coming because I'd been doing this since we were teenagers as well.

I smacked him harshly upside the back of his head.

_**Afterword:**__** Sorry about the late update! My summer is turning out to be a bit busier than I expected. But, I got this up! Also, I admit, I've had a bit of writer's block. And, apparently, when I get writer's block, I get ideas for other fanfictions I haven't started, and I can't write them down so it sucks. Also, during said bout of writer's block I got two ideas for two new fanfictions, one of which will hopefully be posted tonight or tomorrow! (it's for the BBC1/Masterpiece Mystery show Sherlock. If you haven't watched it, I suggest you do, it's AMAZING! I am a TOTAL Sherlockian. And a Whovian. Who can guess my other fanfic now? XD)**_

_** Okay! So! Thank you to my reviewers! Thanks to:**_ grapejuice101, fantasyluver714, MidoriPoet, a guest reviewer, _**and**_ imafangirl. _**Thanks you guys! And also I owe everyone who has added this to their favorites or their story alerts some thanks too! Thanks you guys! Nothing makes me happier than seeing an email about a review/a fave/or a story alert addition! It makes my day! =D **_

_** I hope you all liked this chapter! I hope this stupid writer's block with get out of my dang head! GET OUT! * slams head on keyboard repeatedly! * Okay, that may have made me dizzy, but I hope it hit it out of my head. XD Anway, reviews are loved! Thanks much!**_

_**~Mary**_


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Teetering On The Edge

_Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movie or any of the characters. I only own my OC Arabella._

Chapter Fourteen: Teetering On The Edge, About to Fall

" Ow! That _actually_ hurt you know!" Complained Ben, rubbing the back of his head. I smirked at him, rolling my eyes.

" Then don't make me think your hand had been chopped off my something horrible and it won't happen again." I muttered to him, walking back over to Riley, and hugged me tightly, grinning into my hair.

" God, I love you…" He whispered into my ear, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. I smiled and kissed the underside of his jaw briefly before turning my head to look over at Ben again. I bit my lip nervously, still waiting for something absolutely horrible to happen to him. He scrunched up his nose and pursed his lips as he reached further back into the rock.

" It, uh… it feels like a latch." He told us. A latch? I couldn't really feel surprised any more, seeing as just about everything was possible once you've found the supposedly mythological Templar Treasure and have been chased by bad guys and have had your life threatened. Ben let out a grunt as he pulled back, and something emitted a cracking sound. We all looked towards our right, spotting something on the side of the large rock to our right that we were separated from by some water. We all ran to the edge of the rock and saw that a passage way was being revealed in the middle of the rock as boulders fell away from it. I grinned.

" Lets get down there and find the City of Gold." I said. Apparently everyone had listened to me, and we all made our way off the rock and towards the newly revealed passage. As we quickly made our way over, Ben ushered us in before him saying,

" Alright, lets go!" He ushered Riley in, then Abigail, then me and as we entered the cave, we stared around in wonder. It was huge. The rocks were damp from the environment they'd been sitting solitary in, and there were massive rock carvings everywhere. The opening we'd stepped through was rounded and a large carved piece of stone sat beside it, looking ready to roll and act as a door. The walls were also carved intricately and a large carved boulder was being suspended by some fragile rope that was tied to creaky wooden structure.

" Oh!" Emily said in amazement as she shone a flashlight around. I pulled mine out and began to cast it around, staring at my surroundings some more. " Ben, look at this!" Emily was touching a large carving that looked like it could be the head of a dragon. " It's beautiful!" She was grinning and couldn't stop; who could blame her? It was amazing down here! Ben, Abigail, Riley and I walked towards the stone and I realized what it was. A counterweight for the door.

" Ben, Arabella, what is that?" Abigail asked as we heard the wood continue to creak dangerously.

" It's a counterweight. It's holding the door open for us." I said as I shone my flashlight up at the wood. Another loud groan resounded from the structure and Riley made a face, brow creasing as he stepped closer to it.

" What's that sound?" He asked before stretching a hand out to touch the rope coiled around the wood. At his extremely light touch, the rope snapped and the rock began to fall. Riley began shouting and threw himself to the floor as things began to collapse. The room shook as the constructed wooden piece of work began to fall around everywhere. Emily let out a surprised yell and another rope snapped, sending the counterweight swinging like a battering ram. It crashed into the wall right next to Ben and Abigail, and Ben was hugging her close, shielding her.

" Ben!" Patrick called out. I could faintly see Riley covering his head as wooden beams fell around him. I felt my foot slip as rock crumbled beneath me and the next thing I knew, I was falling. I landed on a few wooden beams, my ribs not taking the fall all that easily. Unfortunately for me, I also landed on my left hand, and as I stopped tumbling on the wreckage of the counterweight structure, I hissed in pain and groaned, hugging my sides I squeezed my eyes shut. Why is it that it seems like I'll always be falling from things? Last year it was the broken platform after Shaw fell to his death, and I bruised my ribs then too. I gripped my left wrist, a painful amount of stinging and tingling engulfing it. Oh shit… that cannot be good.

The room stopped shaking and there was a finalistic thud-like sound of stone hitting stone.

" Sorry!" Riley called out with labored breath, obviously still shocked at what had just happened.

I opened my eyes to see Mitch walk over to Riley.

" You okay?" Mitch asked Riley, who was lying on broken wood and fallen rocks. He held out a hand to help him up. Riley looked up at him and grasped his hand saying,

" No." Mitch helped pull him up and Riley let out a grunt of pain.

" Get up." Mitch grunted as he helped Riley. I would have tried to sit up, but I _did_ just fall rather harshly onto piles of rocks and splintering wood, and my body was screaming at me just to lie still, and I continued to hold my wrist. I closed my eyes again, sighing.

" Arabella?" I heard Riley call out, probably earning everyone a bit of a panic. I moved my right arm underneath me to help push myself up, resting my other hand in my lap, and I groaned at how sore I felt.

" Over here…" I called, spotting him a few feet from my right, but I had fallen down a hill of rock and wood, making me hard to see from where he was. Riley scrambled over, slipping on loose rocks and falling to his knees once before quickly standing again. When he came over, I noticed Mitch wasn't too far behind, and Ben was standing and making his way over, a worried look on his face. Riley held out a hand for me and I grabbed it with my right and attempted to pull myself up, but only succeeded in lifting myself a few inches before falling back on my butt again. Mitch then wrapped an arm around my shoulders and the two men helped me up.

" Are you okay?" Riley asked with a concerned look marring his face as he grabbed my shoulders and looked me over. He brushed dirt off my face and seemed to restrain the urge to frantically brush his hands over me to make sure I was all in once piece. In response, I began to nod and decided to try and flex my left wrist, thinking I had probably just sprained it badly. As I began to try and move it, red-hot pain shot through my entire arm, burning and searing beneath my skin, mostly around my wrist. It felt like someone poured magma underneath my skin just to see what pure _agony_ it would inflict.

" Oh…!" I shouted, biting my lip and squeezing my eyes shut, restraining the urge to shout a few profanities at the pain. I grunted and held my wrist to my stomach, shaking my head. " No." I said, voice cracking. " No, I am most definitely _not _okay!"

" What's wrong?!" Riley asked in a panic, and by that moment, Ben had jumped down and come over as I said,

" It's my wrist…" I managed to stutter out, sucking in a pained breath. Ben held out a hand. I carefully placed my left wrist in his palm, and his skin felt rather cold against mine. Ben carefully looked at it and then let out a sigh.

" It's broken." He informed. " You should have it set and wrapped till we can get out…"

" I'll do that, go see if you can get the door open again." Mitch told Ben, who looked him over a few times as if gauging whether he could trust Mitch or not. After looking back at me I gave a small shrug and Ben nodded, quickly making his way over to the door. " You have anything I can wrap it with?" Mitch asked.

" First aid kit." Riley muttered, tossing his bag off to pull out the first aid kit. I knew it would come in handy, it always does. Mitch gently took my hand and I winced as he touched it, the pain now pure throbbing agony. He looked it over as Riley pulled out an ace bandage and handed it to him. Taking it he looked up at me.

" This is gonna hurt." He said. I nodded and Riley took my hand. I grit my teeth and shut my eyes, squeezing Riley's hand tightly. I felt Mitch's other hand touch mine and I scrunched up my face as I felt something in my wrist begin to move that shouldn't. I'd never broken a bone before, therefore, I've never had to get one re-set. And, may I just say, that as Mitch tried to set it, I was resisting the urge to scream bloody murder. I felt Riley step closer and I pressed my face into his shoulder, biting my lip, sure that soon enough, my teeth would end up drawing blood.

What felt like hours of pain as Mitch set my wrist was actually probably a minute or two in reality. When I finally opened my eyes, I was surprised that I hadn't cried; I'm usually a baby when it came to pain.

" I'm gonna wrap it now, but it'll still hurt. If you've got painkillers you should take them." He looked over at Riley, who handed me two painkillers, obviously having had them ready since he got the ace bandage out. " You should go help with the door too." He said. Riley looked at me for a long moment before nodding slightly, kissing my cheek and giving my hand a squeeze before heading over to Ben, Patrick, Abigail and Emily, who was currently saying,

" Patrick, what have you done?" Patrick shot her a look over his shoulder as everyone tried to push the stone wheel that now covered the entrance.

" Some kind of a bolt! I didn't do it!" Patrick said as Ben and Abigail tried to see if there was any possible way to reopen the door. I swallowed the pills dry, the feeling rather unpleasant. I saw that Mitch had finished wrapping my wrist securely, the bandage also crossing over my palm and knuckles to keep my wrist from moving too much. And, as he mentioned before, it still hurt like hell.

" Thanks…" I murmured, gently lowering my hand. He nodded.

" You did well." He informed me, shinning his flashlight around, looking for another way out. " You didn't cry. Most people do."

" Well, when you've already almost fallen to your death once, you learn how to deal with it." I said, carefully climbing over some rocks. For being kind of evil towards us, I had to say, Mitch was actually fairly generous.

" Only one way out of here now." Mitch told us all, turning to face us, standing in front of a dark passage. " Forward." Ben gave him a look, clearly saying that even though he'd helped me, and even though he was cooperating, he still didn't trust him all that much. Ben gave a curt nod.

" Right. Let's go." He said, stepping down and giving me a pat on the back. I gave him a smile as Patrick and Emily made sure I was okay. As Abigail passed I looked down at my beaten up jacket, and gave a sardonic smile.

" How bad do I actually look?" I asked. Abigail bit her lower lip for a second as she looked me over.

" Like you've been through a rock slide and came out fairly well; you have a few cuts and bruises, but you look fine. I hope your wrist feels better. Don't strain yourself." Abigail told me as we began walking, following Riley who was now holding an electronic lantern.

" Thanks, I won't, and I'll have bruised ribs again, that's for sure." I joked as we continued down the cavernous and cobweb infested passage. I grabbed my flashlight and shone it around. The walls had ancient carvings marked into them, all looking completely new, just covered in dust and roots like no one had cleaned it for hundreds of years… which was true. Emily, needless to say, was breathless. She was looking around in awe, gasping every so often.

" I've never seen so many relics! And so beautifully preserved!" She said as she looked at carvings of the heads of creatures unrecognizable to us. I saw the end of the passage had been blocked by fallen stones, and Mitch had stepped up to examine them. He sighed and turned to look at us again.

" Looks like we'll be moving some rocks, people. There's a tunnel back through here." He told us, turning back to the aforementioned rocks and began to try and figure out where to start. I let out a sigh and stepped back, immediately opting out of the task. No way was I going to be doing that with my one good hand and with my bad one, which was still throbbing dully, the painkillers just beginning to kick in.

" Well, at least this time we've gotten this far and no one's been taken hostage, right, Riley?" I asked, turning to look at him, only to find no one beside me. " Riley?" I asked, turning to see he was holding up his lantern, walking towards a wall opposite us, down a short corridor, his pacing slow. I quickly followed him, squinting to try and see what he was look at. " What is it?" I asked as he stopped walking.

" Guys, look at this!" Riley called out, a smile pulling at his lips. I heard everyone turn and I spotted where the light from his lantern was hitting. A small golden idol-like statue sitting on a small shelf on the wall. Well, that must be a good sign, right? A golden man and we're trying to find the City of Gold?

" It's a little golden man…" Riley stage whispered, staring at it intently, the half smile still on his face, bright blue eyes glinting. I fought the urge to laugh and give him a loving kiss. Abigail stepped up beside me and the three of us stepped forward to get a better look. " Look… It's got like a tiny little torso… look at that… and it looks like…"

Riley would never get to finish that sentence. The floor beneath our feel dropped down, setting itself at an angle that caused us to fall, rolling downwards. Ben, Mitch, Abigail, Riley and I all let out yells as we dropped, rolling painfully on the rough stone. I felt myself roll over my injured wrist a few times and knew that the pain would now be extremely hard to get rid of now. I ran into someone, I don't know who, but my guess it was either Riley or Abigail, who had been beside me, and then I felt nothing beneath me before landing on something rough and hard. I groaned as I handing on my stomach, my face pressed against whatever we'd landed on. I faintly heard Patrick and Emily calling for Ben before they were cut off and whatever we landed on tilted dramatically downwards again, sending me rolling once more. I flung my hands out and gripped into the platform, my fingers digging into what I now realized as intricate carvings.

I tried to stand and when I did such, I saw Ben dangling over the edge of the platform.

" Move back! Move back!" He called out to us, face sweaty. " All of you! The other side!" He called. Abigail and Riley (who was on his hands and knees) scrambled backwards and I finally managed to wobbly stand, my backpack throwing me off balance. " Back up! Back up!" Ben finally hauled himself up again and then stood. " Riley! Riley, move forward!" Riley stepped forward a bit to far, causing the platform to tilt. " No! Back up, back up!" Riley did as told and I tried to brace my feet apart to hold my balance. Then, he was too far back and he began to slide as it tilted downwards towards him. He looked like he was about to fall.

" No, Riley!" I yelled out just as he called,

" What do you want me to do!?" To Ben.

" Stop! Stop!" Ben ordered, holding out a hand. Riley froze in a wide-legged squat, arms spread out. He had one side to himself. I began to realize how to balance it. " We have to balance our weight to even things out!" Ben told us, and I immediately stood in the center, seeing as I was the fifth person in the equation, and we were standing on a square platform. We all wobbled as we tried to get it to stop moving so dramatically. I looked up to the ceiling, where we'd dropped from.

" Damn trapped doors…" I muttered as I saw that what we were standing on was, in fact wood.

" You can say that again…" Ben muttered. Mitch peered over the edge, pointing his flashlight downward.

" There's nothing. Just a big black hole." Said Mitch as he looked back over at us.

" Wonderful, just like last time and look at what happened to Shaw on the rickety _wooden_ stairs!" I practically shouted in frustration.

" Ben, look! There's a ladder!" Abigail suddenly said, interrupting me before I could begin to rant. I followed her flashlight's bean and saw a short wooden ladder hanging a few feet above the corner between Mitch and Ben. " I mean… what's left of a ladder…" I sighed in relief but then muttered,

" How are we gonna get to it, jump?" God, I was being pretty grumpy… but, who could blame me, I do ask? I was definitely gonna need some coffee when we got out of here…

" Toss me a light." Ben asked, catching Abigail's flashlight as we all continued to try and not shift our weight. " Riley, move slowly to that corner." Riley began to craw towards it. " No, wait! As _I _move to this corner." Ben said, looking across at Riley, pointing to his right.

" Okay." Riley said breathlessly, standing up a bit more.

" One step at a time, good…" The two began to move very slowly and the wood groaned loudly. Soon enough, Riley stood on the corner of the platform. " If we can raise this corner, I think I'll reach it…" Ben told us all, looking up at it. Mitch took a few steps towards Ben, causing it to tilt again.

" HEY! HEY, HEY!" Riley shouted angrily, trying not to fall. I fell to one knee, glaring at the man.

" Are you crazy!?" I yelled.

" Hey!" Abigail cried as she fell.

" STOP! RED LIGHT!" Riley screamed, jabbing an angry and accusatory finger at Mitch.

" _You're not helping!_" Abigail added and I shakily stood, resisting the urge to hurl something at him. He glared at Ben.

" I can get up there just as easy as you." He informed Ben darkly. Ben took a step or two towards him.

" Oh, no, no, no! Ben!" I called out, feeling the weight shifting in all directions, seeing as I was at the center.

" Guys!" Abigail called, trying to catch her breath.

" It's four against one here… I _ain't_ goin' last, and if I ain't goin' last, I'm goin' _first_." Mitch told all of us, probably not trusting us at all for the moment.

" Look!" Ben began to reason, now standing only feet away from him.

" What's it gonna be?" He asked quietly, eyes trained intently on Ben. There was a tense pause as the platform creaked menacingly. Ben suddenly lashed his hands out and gripped Mitch by his sweater and coat. Ben glanced over the edge, as did Mitch. I watched, wide eyed. Ben wasn't _seriously_ thinking of throwing him off was he? He's _not_ that kind of person, and I'll be damned it he becomes like that! The pause dragged on.

" We'll do this your way." Ben decided and I let out a relieved sigh. He turned so he was swapping places with Mitch, each step careful and measured. Then, he released his jacket and gave a nod. Mitch began to slowly make his way towards the corner that was lined up with the ladder and Ben said, " Now, the rest of us, on the count of three, move together. One step at a time. One, two, three." I took a step or two backwards, and we all watched as Mitch's corner lifted. We took another step and I was in-line with the other three, between Riley and Ben. With our last step, we all came together and wrapped our arms around each others backs, watching as Mitch tossed his flashlight up into a darkened passage just above the ladder. He grabbed onto the lowest rung.

" Ready?" He called back to us. We all looked at Ben.

" Go." We all rushed forward to the middle, lowering the platform so Mitch now hung there. It wobbled as we tried to reorganize our weight again. I had to admit though, focusing on not falling was taking my mind off my wrist, which no longer seemed to be hurting. Mitch grunted as he hauled himself up the rungs, and yelled out as one snapped. I covered my mouth, waiting for him to fall, but thank God, he didn't. He managed to get his feet up as well and climb into the passage, disappearing from our sight.

" Mitch! What do you see?" Riley called out. There was no response as we stared at where he disappeared. " Is there a way out? What's up there, Mitch? Mitch! Come on!" Still no response. I felt my shoulders slump as I sighed.

" Great… he's left us here to die, hasn't he?" I asked, subconsciously realizing I was channeling my inner Riley. It seemed very likely he just moved on without us.

" I've been doing the math here… and…" Abigail began, looking at us. " We'll have to leave one person behind…" I shook my head grimly, as if refusing to let that happen, which I wouldn't.

" Just promise you'll come back for me…" Riley muttered, staring at his feet. I looked over at him in shock. " I can do the math too…" I shook my head, grabbing onto his arm.

" That makes you next." Ben said to Abigail. He looked at me. " Then you."

" I'll go last." Riley said. I slapped his arm and he looked at me.

" No! We aren't leaving you!" I told him.

" Glad to know you don't want to leave me…" He looked at Ben and Abigail, who were staring at each other. " 'No, we'll figure something else out, Riley.'" He said imitating Ben. " 'Yeah, we need you up there, please, Riley!'" He said upping his voice an octave to imitate Abigail, who smacked his arm. " At least I don't have to do Arabella, who actually _voiced _she didn't want me to stay." We all gave him a small smile. " I'm just kidding. Go." He said to Abigail. She began to step forward, and with each step she took, we took a step backwards. She threw her lantern up and then glanced back at us. We gave her a nod and she stepped onto the very corner and grabbed onto the ladder.

" One… two… three!" She said shakily.

" Go!" We ran forward as much as we _could_ run, and the platform leveled, leaving Abigail dangling. She began to pull herself up, eventually managing to haul herself into the passage. The wood creaked in a way that sounded ominous and deadly.

" Arabella, your turn." Riley said. I looked over at them and quickly yanked the two into a hug. This was even worse than last time… and that's saying something.

Taking a deep breath, I turned and began to slowly walk to the corner. I felt the platform lift underneath me and when I was able to reach the ladder; I grabbed it with my right hand and then slung my left arm through it, knowing I couldn't hold onto it with that hand.

" Okay… ready?" I asked pausing for my own benefit, squeezing my eyes shut. " One… two… three!" I felt the platform disappear beneath me and I groaned as I felt the strain on my hand and arm. I reached for the passageway floor, but I heard a snap. Oh no… not good…

" What are you doing?" I heard Riley ask.

" Nothing!" Came Ben's reply. I began to realize as I grabbed for Abigail's now outstretched hand, that this would be exceedingly difficult with a broken wrist.  
>" Come on! You can do it!" Abigail assured me as I gripped her hand with my right, but then felt my left arm begin to slip. Just as I was sure I was going to fall, I felt another hand grab my left arm and I looked up to see Mitch, arm outstretched, helping pull me up. I lay on the dusty floor a moment and I looked at the two.<p>

" Thanks." I told them before standing, looking at the breaking platform. Apparently Ben told Riley to go first because he was scrambling for the ladder, and then jumped for it, yelling out. He grabbed on and the ladder began to swing.

" Riley! Hang on!" Abigail called down to him. Ben was now trapped and alone on the teetering platform, no way to get off.

" Okay, how do we get Ben off, because I am _not_ leaving him down there!" I said. She and I looked around.

" Okay, Arabella, Mitch, the idol!" She said, pointing to a large gold idol. " Okay, Ben!"

" We found a gold idol up here! We'll roll it off so it can off set your weight to get you up here!" I called out as Mitch put it onto its side.

" Then roll it!" He called back.

" Here it comes!" Abigail shouted over the splintering and cracking wood, as the three of us rolled it to the edge of the opening. It fell through the air, landed on the wood and began to roll. Ben leapt over it, and ran towards the edge. Riley, who was still clinging to the ladder called,

" Come on, Ben!" He jumped again and grabbed onto the bottom rung of the ladder just as the wooden platform finally broke and began to fall. " Here!" Riley held out a hand to him. " Give me your hand!" When Ben grasped it, he was able to get a better grip to haul himself up.

" Thanks, Riley!" He said with a strained voice as he climbed up more. Both caught their breath for a second and I held out a hand for Riley. He looked up at me.

" Did you see that?" He asked breathlessly.

" Yeah, of course I did!" I told him as he reached up and grasped my hand.

" Oh, good. I've always wanted a girl to be able to see me doing something like that." He admitted, causing me to laugh as I helped him off the ladder. I gave him a tight hug, happily feeling him wrap his arms around my waist as well.

" You're okay! You're okay! You're okay!" I heard Abigail say as she looked over Ben, brushing dirt and dust from his clothes. I smiled into Riley's chest and then looked up at him.

" Well, looks like you finally got what you wanted." I teased. He smiled back and leaned down and gave me a quick kiss, brushing hair from my face.

" So… forward." Mitch said. We all looked at him, still attempting to catch our breaths. I shot him a look as he began to walk again. I looked over to Ben.

" You sure you're okay?" I asked. He nodded.

" Yeah, I am. How about your wrist?" He asked. I winced and looked down, feeling the pain return.

" Not too good, but I'll handle it." I said as we all began to follow Mitch, who called out to us.

" Stop chattering! Remember, we have to move forward!"

_**Afterword: Okay! So there's chap. Fourteen! WOO! =D Hope you liked it! I've been working on it for a few days now. So, let me know what you think! And I know, I know, Arabella broke her wrist! But, I've noticed how in these movies the heroes don't usually get seriously injured, when in reality, it probably would happen, sooooo yeah, I've been planning on her breaking her wrist since I think… chapter eight XD**_

_** REVIEW REPLIES AND THANKING TIME! =D**_

**will zona**: _Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it!_

**fantasyluver714**:_ Yes, actually I __do__ love it when people get smacked upside the head! XD I think it's funny. I do it to my friends all the time, and they don't mind it. I hope you liked the chapter! Thanks for reviewing!_

:_ I'm glad you like the story thus far! I'm a big National Treasure fan too (but I'm guessing you probably knew that XD) and someone came up with Ribella as a couple name for them in the fist story for me, I've been trying to come up with other ones also, but none have come to mind XD Thanks for reviewing!_

**grapejuice101**: _Glad you liked the chapter and I hope you enjoyed this one! Again, thanks so much for being a loyal reviewer! Also, the next chapter for my Phantom fic should be the next one to go up! Thanks again!_

**imafangirl**: _I love the part with Riley acting like a bird too! I think it's the funniest scene in this movie along with the 'it's a little golden man!', which is like the equivalent of the " It's a big… bluish-green man… with a strange looking goatee… I'm guessing that's significant!" scene from the first, which is my favorite scene! And I'm super glad you think I'm awesome! Thanks for reviewing!_

**Olivia Marie 20**:_ I'll continue to write this story till I run out of ideas or tons of people begin to hate it! I'm glad you're enjoying the story and I hope you liked the chapter! Thanks for reviewing!_

**MidoriPoet**: _Ahaahha! I thought it seemed like something Arabella would do! Especially since they've known each other since they were kids, I pictured her doing that a lot when they were in high school. I also love the whole 'Riley pretends to be a bird scene' it makes me laugh every time! Hope you liked the chapter! Thanks again!_

**Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967**: _Glad you've been enjoying it! Hope you liked the chapter and be sure to let me know what you think! Thanks again!_

_** And thank you to all who have added this to story alert or their favorites! Means a lot to me! =D**_

_** WOW, that's a lot of review responses! XD I've begun to answer them in the author's note because otherwise I feel like I'm neglecting you all, and I hate that feeling!**_

_** I have to say, if I could draw better, I would draw Arabella and Riley together when she has her face pressed into her shoulder when she's getting her wrist set because I think it's cute how he's always there for her XD Unfortunately, I can't draw all that well. But, if anyone else wants to try and draw them or something, feel free and let me know if you do.**_

_** Okay, so that's all till the next chapter! Thanks again to all of you, my wonderful reviewers and readers! Please review to let me know what you think! Thanks again!**_

_**~Mary**_


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Swept Off My Feet

_Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movie or any of the characters. I only own my OC Arabella._

Chapter Fifteen: Swept Off My Feet

We continued to stumble through the dark and rocky passages just like Mitch said, only a few of us having lights to hold and go by. The rocks that made up the passage walls were damp and holding in the moisture, causing us all to have a sheen of sweat covering our skin along with grime and dirt. The roof would eventually come together like an upside down 'v', which made the walls a bit narrower and tougher to walk through. No one spoke. We were all still pretty shaken up about the whole 'wooden platform almost killed us all' event, something that would forever make me question the safety of wooden floors everywhere, even the one in mine and Riley's apartment.

I was using my good hand to trail along the wet rock to give me a good sense of when it curved and I slid my feet carefully along to detect any drops, which I didn't exactly want. Mitch led the way followed by Ben, then Abigail and then me and Riley taking up the end. I could hear him slow down every once and a while to not trip over something, and I couldn't blame him, we couldn't be too cautious, especially since this place had booby-traps.

Eventually we heard the telltale sound of rushing water. It got louder as we exited through a door way and into a dark room that smelled like a flowing river; you know, like fresh water and all that. It was even cooler than in the passages, which was greatly welcomed.

" I can't see anything!" Called Riley. " Is this it?"

I saw Ben walk over to a trough-like thing on the side of the doorway. I watched as he curiously dipped his fingers into it.

" It's oil." He announced. He dropped his backpack to the ground and pulled out a flare. Lighting it, he held it to the surface of the oil, which immediately ignited and sent a trail of fire down the path that had been made for it. That seemed eerily familiar, did it not? Ben lit the same thing on the other side of the doorway, and with the newly acquired light we were able to see the room. I felt my jaw drop.

The room was enormous. Water poured in from the top of the cave-like room, between carvings of what could be meant to look like snake heads, and splashing down to the floor and a deep pit that swirled into what looked like the watery depths of nothing. Slowly, Abigail stepped out into the water, holding her lantern at face height, her hair slowly dampening from the water spraying around her.

" It's a dead end! There's no way out!" She observed. I stepped out into the water, feeling the cold immediately rush around my boots, and I was vaguely aware that this particular set of foot ware probably wouldn't make it to the end of this adventure. I looked around and noticed Abigail was right. Where the water was gushing through seemed like they could have been tunnels, but it was, quite obviously, not going to happen. " We have to turn back!"

I walked over to a ledge where I could see the water quickly churning in a circular motion, like whirlpool. I blinked a few times as I noticed Ben coming to stand a few feet away from me. Wait… this couldn't be right. There had to be an outlet for the water to leave, otherwise this entire place would be flooded. The water _had_ to be exiting through a hole somewhere in the depths of wherever the churning water ended up! I grinned silently to myself.

" There's no forward!" Abigail called again, mimicking Mitch's words in a completely serious manor. I shook my head.

" Guys! It's not forward, it's _down_!" I pointed towards the churning water, which was frothing and white. " This entire room, no, this entire place would be flooded if there was no outlet for the water!" I called out. Ben nodded as he looked around. I followed his eyes to the holes where the water came through and then to a large circular stone with four pegs in it five feet or so away.

" Help me turn this wheel!" Ben called, rushing over to it. I knew I had to opt out of that mission because of my hand, so I decided to monitor the water levels. The other four ran over and each grabbed a peg, lifting and then walking in a counter-clockwise direction. I felt strands of my now wet hair sticking to my face, cold beads of water rolling down my skin. I noticed that as they turned the wheel, stones slowly began to lower to block out the water. Slowly, the water level in the room began to go down. I grinned.

" It's working, guys!" I called out happily just as they finished turning the wheel. The water was slowly dissipating to reveal a set of stairs. " I see our way down." I said gesturing to the wet stone steps.

Walking in the order we had gone in to get to the previous room, we cautiously sloshed our way down the turning staircase. Mitch had a flashlight; Abigail held a lantern and Riley now gripped onto Ben's flare, the light red and a bit eerie. Finally, everyone slowed down as we began to pass through a stone doorway. Mitch walked off to the side, leaving Ben, Riley, Abigail and I to stop and stare at the sight before us. I covered my mouth, Riley grinned, Ben's mouth fell open and Abigail stared in shock.

Before sat the City of Gold. There were pyramids like the Mayan Temples made of solid gold along with countless other buildings and carvings. They shone in the dim light and eventually dissipated into blackness the further back it went. Water was still draining at the base of the room and above us, the fire we'd lit shone down on it, basking it in light for the first time in well over a hundred years. Water drops still rolled down the gold bricks, creating thin rivers that made the already shiny sight glitter even more. It was beautiful. It was like seeing the Templar Treasure all over again.

I let my hand drop and I grinned, unable to help the fact my eyes were tearing up. I grabbed Riley's hand and squeezed it tightly, still staring around in awe, vaguely aware of Riley's eyes set on me for a while instead of the gold before us.

" Ben! Ben! Arabella!" I heard Emily call out. With a bigger grin I looked diagonally across the room to see Patrick and Emily again, both holding hands and waving at us, looks of joy on their faces.

" Dad! We found it!" Ben called out in triumph, raising his arms in the air, the biggest grin on his face.

" Thomas was right!" Patrick called back.

" No, _you_ were right!" Ben responded. Now, _that_ was something to hear. Over the years, leading up to just about a year ago, Ben never said that to his father. And last year, his father told him that _he _was right (and as was I, but that's completely beside the point here!) and now Ben was telling him that he was right. And, I can guarantee you, if Patrick was standing beside us at that moment, there would have been a very emotional and touching father-son hug moment.

Ben turned to me and pulled me into a hug, just like the time we'd found the Templar Treasure. I hugged back, patting his shoulders with joy. Pulling away I found myself in Riley's arms, and I happily relaxed into his embrace, kissing his cheek for a long moment, pleased to see a small blush rise to his face.

" I'm sorry I smeared your great-great-granddaddy's good name." Mitch said, shocking us all. Did he just… apologize? " It seemed like the only way to get you in on the hunt. But this was a chance to let the Wilkinson family make its mark on history, to find the City of Gold… to be remembered." I could hear the tears in his voice. I could hear the fact that it had been all we wanted all along. To let his family be remembered. He didn't want to be the bad guy. He just wanted to be remembered for something. And, as Ben and I looked at each other, we both fully understood what he meant. And with that, everyone turned to go explore.

I for one descended the steps and sat for a moment, shrugging my backpack off. I pressed my hands to the cold, wet golden bricks beneath me and I shook my head in disbelief. Emily then ran over and gave me a tight hug, which I returned.

" Are you alright?" I asked worried, keeping my hands on her shoulders. She gave me a loving smile and brushed a few wet locks of hair from my face.

" I'm doing just fine. How about you?"

" Well, aside from shocked and in awe, I'm perfectly fine, no more near-death experiences." I joked with a laugh, which she shared with me till she suddenly turned and gasped, looking up at one of the temples. I smiled as she began to walk up, Patrick trailing behind her.

My mind was still trying to wrap around it. It was real. The City of Gold was real. I was sitting there, like so many explorers before us _wanted _to do, but I, Arabella Fletcher of Washington D.C., average woman, was sitting on solid gold in the middle of a city built of the stuff! I sometimes wondered how I was gifted (and at times cursed) with this amazing life. I never questioned it, I just wondered why I was so lucky.

Riley was a few stairs above me, seeming to try and fit gold blocks into his bag. I laughed quietly as I watched him. He was so adorable. I loved him so much, and I honestly cannot express that love through words. I would always choose to be by his side more than anything in the world. I didn't need a huge house with seven cars and expensive furniture. I just wanted my family; Abigail, Ben, Patrick, Emily and, of course, my beloved Riley, who I'd happily spend the rest of my life with. He was the cutest, most lovable and adorable, smart and, I need not forget, hottest computer nerd the world had ever seen. I grinned up at my boyfriend before dropping my chin to rest in my hand and gaze up at where Ben now stood with his mother and father, by what looked like a sacrificial table.

" Oh, yeah, that's were they slit the throat and cut the heart out." I could hear Ben say as he gestured to the table. I laughed and shook my head. There he goes again. Behind me, Riley laughed in disbelief and I saw him grinning as he began to put a gold brick into his bag. I rolled my eyes. I knew that he obviously was grinning about the fact it was worth so much money, when I on the other hand, thought it was amazing how someone put that gold brick there so many years ago to build a habitable city to actually live in.

That's when everyone heard the bang.

" What was that?" Riley asked nervously, beginning to stand.

" Listen!" Abigail called out, looking up above us. I stood, not liking the sound I'd just heard. It sounded again, only this time it was more rapid; one crack after another crack followed by a large bang and another one.

That was when water began to burst through the rock walls.

Water began to flow through windows in the temples and down onto, of course, Riley. I saw him struggle to get onto the steps, leaving his backpack behind. I carefully climbed up to help him as he yelled out a few times, the water soaking him completely. I wasn't faring much better myself, but I grabbed Riley's hand and began to lead him down again.

" I tried to find a way out, all those portals are blocked off." Mitch informed.

" No, no, no! I'm telling you, the water lets out _somewhere_! We just have to find it! And find it really fast!" I called out from our spot on the stairs, both of us nearly slipping. As we neared the bottom, I saw Patrick drop something into the water and watch it.

" Arabella! Ben! There's a current!" Patrick called out to us over the rushing sound of the water.

" Follow it! There's got to be a central drain!" Ben called back.

" It's under us! Right here!" He pointed beneath us. Riley and I jumped the last few steps into the water, following every body to a doorway at the base of the main temple. Rocks began to fall around us and Riley gestured everyone in, always putting us before himself.

" Lets go! Get in there!" He called out as everyone quickly rushed inside, Riley following in last.

We came to a room at the bottom of a set of stairs that was slowly filling with water, a large stone door blocking the only way out, and another turning mechanism in the center of the room, this one made of wood. The water was churning uneasily around our legs, rising too fast for my liking. If I was going to die, I did _not_ want it to be by drowning in a 'mythical' city that no one knew where it was. That didn't sound fun.

" The water's rising too fast!" Ben called. I pointed to the door.

" Let's get that door open! You know so that way none of us drown!" I shouted over the water, gesturing to the turning mechanism. There were two large wooden logs sticking out on either end. Mitch ran to one, and Ben took the other. With huge amounts of effort, the two, completely soaked and exhausted, began to push and turn it, the door slowly rising. It opened enough for us to see a slight drop and a run off. A drainage tunnel! Thank God!

" Ben! It slopes down, it's a drainage tunnel!" Patrick told him, as we all got on our hands and knees to see through it. " But it fills with water when you open the door!"

" We have to find something to stick under it to keep it open!" Abigail said, as we continued to watch the door rise. I briskly shook my head.

" No! If it stays open, it stays flooded! We need to all make it to the other side and then shut the door!" I responded the water continuing to flow freely into the drainage tunnel. Riley put his hands on Patrick and Emily's backs.

" Patrick, Emily, go!" Riley told them. The two began to step forward to make their way under the gap that had been made, but suddenly the door dropped shut again, all of us shouting out choruses of 'no!' We spun around to see that Mitch had stopped turning deliberately to stop us from leaving, seeing as Ben couldn't turn it on his own. Riley shot him a look of disbelief.

" Mitch, we've gotta be on the other side of that door!" He shouted at the man, pointing to our only way out, his tone clearly angry and extremely pissed-off.

" No body leaves unless I say so!" Mitch told us, stepping down into the water, which was now at about waist height and still rising. " That door's not gonna stay open by itself." He walked over to Ben. " We both know what has to happen here, Ben."

" One of us keeps the door open and stays behind." He stated, face and voice serious. Mitch might not have _wanted _to be the bad guy, but he certainly _was._ After a tense silence Riley called out,

" I vote Mitch!"

" This isn't a democracy." Mitch stated before turning and with his left hand, sent a punch flying at Ben. His fist connected with Ben's cheek, causing him to fall.

" Hey!" Riley shouted, rushing forward, only to get punched square in the face. He fell backwards into the water, and having enough of Mitch, I ran forward to punch _him_ with my good hand. When I was close enough, I felt Mitch grab me, spin me around and I felt something cold press against the skin of my throat. A knife. My first thought was;

_So, I won't drown, I'll have my throat slit. This really isn't turning out to be my day._

My second thought as I strained my neck away from the knife was;

_Where the hell did he get a knife?_

And my last thought as I lifted my hands to show that I was defenseless against him and giving in was;

_This is once again turning out like last time._

My thought process was a bit jumbled. Last time, it had been a gun under my saw. Then, I'd been scared, of course. I didn't want to die then, and I didn't want to die now. The thing was, I was able to stay calm then because I figured being shot wouldn't be all too painful and pretty quick. Having your throat cut by a knife, however, seemed to be extremely painful and a death that would be way too slow. So, I was extremely terrified.

" _NO!_" I heard Riley shout along with a few other yells from the others.

" Stop!" Ben called. " I'll stay! I'm staying, look!" Ben sloshed through the now chest high water back towards the turning mechanism.

" Ben, no!" I called out, only to feel the knife's pressure increase on my throat so I immediately stopped talking.

" I'm here! Look, I'm here! I'm staying!" Ben shouted angrily. He looked extremely upset, but I couldn't exactly follow all his movements with the way my head was strained backwards.

" Alright, I'll tell everyone here how this is gonna go!" Mitch called out, still not releasing me, my breathing still quick. " You and me gonna open that door. Anyone who tries to leave before me, I drop the door and we start this all over again. If you try _any_ funny business then I guarantee that people are gonna get hurt."

" I won't! You have _my_ word! Just let her go!" Ben replied in as calm a manor he could seem to manage. The knife disappeared and I was shoved forward, and I grabbed onto Riley, who pulled me against him, smoothing out my hair as I forced myself not to cry. He kissed my fore head and then both my cheeks, taking in shuddering breaths as he murmured to me that I was okay, sounding like he was suppressing tears as well. The water was getting closer to our necks.

" Ben! We won't leave without you!" Emily cried, a saddened look over coming her face.

" Abigail!" Ben called as he pressed his back against the large wooden peg. She raced up to him and put a hand on his chest. They looked at each other for a moment. " You make my parents leave. You make my parents leave." He said shakily. Raising a trembling hand she touched his face, and he nodded as she hesitantly turned and walked over to Patrick and Emily. I looked up at him and shook my head, but he again nodded, fixing me with a brotherly look.

" Let's go." Abigail said, her voice hoarse and her eyes teary.

" No." Riley said as we both shook our heads.

" Let's go!"

" No!" I yelled as she dragged us towards the door. " Benjamin Franklin Gates, to you hear me!? No! I will _not_ let you do this!" Tears were now rolling down my face. I couldn't let Ben stay here to die! He was technically my _brother!_ The only person who for _years_ accepted me for who I really was! He couldn't die! It just couldn't happen, it wouldn't happen! I'd _never _forgive myself! He was staying behind to save _us_, but _us,_ our family of everyone in this damned flooding room (minus Mitch) included him. There was no _us, _no family without Benjamin Franklin Gates.

" I'm not leaving him!" Patrick said strongly.

" Let's go, Patrick, Emily!" Abigail tried again, attempting to get Ben's parents to move. " He's trying to save our lives, _please_ come on!"

The two men began to turn the wheel again, the door beginning to lift once more.

" Push, Ben!" Ordered Mitch. As the door opened and water gushed through, a current formed, sweeping my feet from underneath me and pulling us towards the door.

" The currents too strong!" Riley shouted, his hand being pulled from mine. Water rushed up around my head and face, and blurred my vision and caused me to cough. I lifted my chin higher to keep myself from inhaling any water just as Ben braced his legs against a large rock.

" I'm ready!"

" It's all yours!" Said Mitch, stepping away, Ben immediately grunting in pain.

We were pulled closer to the door as things began to collapse again. Ben was thrown forward and the began to shut but was stopped as Mitch began to hold it open. Riley had apparently been pulled under to the other side and Patrick and Abigail quickly ducked under. Ben swam over and he and I helped Emily under, and turned back to face Mitch, who was holding the weight of the door by himself.

" Arabella, go!" Ben shouted to me.

" No! I won't leave you here!"

" You can! You can leave me here, what you can't do is abandon my parents and Abigail and especially Riley!" Ben told me and I shook my head.

I grabbed onto a piece of wood and thrust it under the door, hoping that it would keep it open long enough for us _all_ to get out. But suddenly, it snapped and Ben grunted in pain. I let out a shout of shock and tried to pull him out my own foot getting wedged under the door.

" Oh no…" I muttered, shaking my head.

" If I'm stuck in the door, it stays open!" Ben shouted to Mitch. " Both rooms fill up and we _all drown_! Open the door, I'll get you and Arabella out!"

" The current's too strong. I open the door, you two will be washed down!" Mitch told us. I shook my head again.

" No, Mitch, we'll find a way to get you out!" I called back to him as the water bubbled up around my jaw.

" I found the City of Gold!" He said in a sadly triumphant voice. " I found it! And no one will ever know?"

" We," Water bubbled up around Ben's mouth. He strained his head upwards. " We can figure this out!"

" We can all get out, there's _always a way!_" I cried, attempting to yank my foot out from under the door to no avail.

" It's not a puzzle! No more puzzles Ben, Arabella!" That was the first and only time he'd ever spoken my name. " We could all die, or it could just be me."

" Mitch!" Both of us yelled.

" Tell them I found it!"

" Don't quit!" Encouraged Ben. Then, Mitch yelled out as he pushed with his back to open the door. My foot was freed but I felt myself sucked below the surface of the water, someone then pulling me to the other side. When we surfaced on the other side I discovered Abigail had pulled me free while Riley got Ben.

The door was shut. Everyone looked to be in shock. Water trickled down the stone floor of the drainage tunnel. We all were catching our breaths, which were panicked and ragged. Water was rolling down our skin and hair, creating cold rivers of water trailing all over. I wrapped my arms tightly around Riley, who seemed eager to hold me close to him, his forehead resting on the top of my head as we sat there. I shut my eyes, and I could just hear Ben mutter,

" Thank you…" To Abigail. I opened my eyes to see Ben look over at me. " When will you learn to do what your told to do?" He asked. I smiled a bit at him.

" Never. I had no intention of dying, so I figured that would be enough to get at least us out…" I whispered before shutting my eyes again, relaxing back into Riley's embrace.

" Now, promise me this, Arabella, sweetheart…" Riley muttered. " Don't _ever do that again_." I shook my head, all seriousness there.

" I promise, Riley. I won't." I leaned up and gave him a brief kiss, placing a hand on his wet cheek.

Then, I felt light reflect onto my face. Opening my eyes and looking down, I saw sunlight coming through where the drainage pipe let out. We all slowly stood and began to make our way towards the opening. As we walked I shook my head.

" _That_ was closest thing I ever want to get to being on the _Titanic_." I muttered in a monotone. Ben rolled his eyes.

" Riley's rubbing off on you I think." He said. I grinned up at Riley and asked,

" Who said that was a bad thing?"

_**Afterword: WOW I wrote this entire chapter in one sitting. I wasn't tired and had nothing to do so I was like 'I'll write up a new chapter for Another Chaotic Adventure'!' So, I did! =D They found the City of Gold! WOO! =D Mitch died. I have mixed feelings about that man. So, I rewrote that scene with Mitch and Ben and Arabella three times. First, it was all three of them, then, Arabella was on the other side of the door while Ben conversed with Mitch in his last minutes. Then, is switched it back and it is what it is now! Hope you liked the chapter!**_

_** REVIEW RESPONSES! WOO HOO!**_

**grapejuice101:**_ Glad you've been enjoying the story! Hope you liked the chapter and thanks for being such a loyal reviewer! =D_

**Olivia Marie 20:**_ Hope you enjoyed the chapter! (The next update should be up sometime tomorrow I hope!) Thanks again!_

**Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-968:**_ I'm glad you liked that scene! I love it when he shouts 'STOP! RED LIGHT!' XD He's so funny and loveable! Thanks again for the review!_

**MidoriPoet:**_ Yeah, in this story their moments keep getting ruined; like in the beginning when Ben walked in and got all big brother on them. I'm also glad you liked the 'I've always wanted a girl to see me do that' line! Hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for the review!_

**will zona:**_ Thanks for the review! I'm really glad you've been enjoying the story! Hope you liked this chapter! Thanks again!_

_**And Thank you to all who have added this to their story alert or their favorites; it means a lot!**_

_** Thanks again you guys! I hope to get you guys the next chapter some time tomorrow because I really want to write down the next bit cause I have plan in my head for something and I CANNOT wait to write it out! =D Hope you enjoyed it! As always, Review to let me know what you thought! Thanks again! * cyber hug to all my readers! ***_

_**~ Mary**_


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Surprises

_Disclaimer:__ I do not own either National Treasure movie or any of the characters. I only own my OC Arabella._

Chapter Sixteen: Surprises

Once we exited the drainage tunnel we ended up wading back to shore. When we made it back to solid land, we all collapsed onto the ground, still catching our breath.

" So, now we call Sadusky?" I asked, wringing water out of my hair with my right hand. Ben laughed a bit and looked over at me.

" How'd you figure that out?"

" It's what we did last time. And this adventure has been following suit of many events from last time so, it only seemed rational. Oh, and you'll need to be negotiate your way out of going to prison for kidnapping the President." I smiled at him. " Have fun with that." Ben rolled his eyes and walked off, taking Patrick's phone to call with. I stared down at my hand and sighed.

" Looks like I'll probably be needing to get a cast for this." I muttered, fixing the soaked bandages a bit. Riley sighed as well, scrubbing a hand through his short hair.

" That's my fault…" He muttered.

" How on earth is it your fault?"

" I broke the rope accidentally, and that caused everything to break and for you to fall." Riley said quietly, dropping his head to my shoulder. I shook my head and took his hand in mine.

" Riley, it wasn't your fault. The rope was just old. Besides, _I _was the one who lost my footing. Don't go blaming yourself, I won't allow it, Mister Poole." I told him, wrapping my right arm around his shoulders and I leaned my head atop his, closing my eyes. I heard him grumble a bit and I smirked, knowing I'd won that conversation.

I wasn't sure how long we sat there, waiting for Ben to come back, but I was glad we'd all gotten a moment to relax. I enjoyed sitting in the sun, relaxing with my amazing boyfriend, listening to the faint sound of birds chirping. I made a mental note that we needed to take more days like this. When Ben did return he gave a small sigh.

" Well, looks like Abigail, Riley, Arabella and I are being escorted to somewhere… of course." Ben said as we all stood again.

" They didn't say why?" Abigail asked, running a hand through her drying blond hair.

" When do they ever?" Was Ben's response.

" Got a point there." Riley said in a monotone, threading his fingers through mine. I squeezed his hand before we all began walking back towards the main path, where we were then met by park rangers and men in military uniforms. Abigail and I were given blankets to wrap around our shoulders to keep warm and then Ben was seized by the arm and we were escorted to a waiting black van. It was extremely quiet on the ride in the van. We were surrounded by state officials, soldiers and park rangers. I could only guess we were going to be questioned about the kidnapping of the President, which had been only Ben in the physical aspect, but all of us in the master plan.

We arrived at a plane hanger, and were once more escorted into the hanger. We saw a group of men gathered around a table. As we stopped walking, the men turned and I felt my eyes widen and I forced my jaw to stay closed. There, in a dark blue jacket, light blue button down, white pants, and black shoes was the President. _The President of the United States._ I began to think, _Oh, shit, we're REALLY in trouble now…_ We were probably going to go to jail. For life.

Riley began to smack Abigail's arm.

" Stop." She whispered. He did it twice more, a look of pure shock crossing his face. " Stop it!" Riley turned to look at me, seeing as I was standing between him and Ben. He then looked at the President and back to me and I took that as a 'is that _really him_!?' and I nodded. Ben took a step or two forward.

The President began to step towards us. One of his bodyguards quickly stepped up beside him.

" Mr. President?" He asked.

" Craig, give us a minute." The President responded.

" Sir, for your information, this is the man who _kidnapped _you."

" As I recall…" The President stood a few feet in front of Ben. " We were exploring a hidden tunnel and a door accidentally closed and this man saved my life." I smiled. At that statement, I somehow knew that the President was going to let the kidnapping slide… maybe Ben talked to him and the two found some sort of mutual understanding or something of that affect. " Gates."

" Sir." Ben said respectfully.

" For the record, after centuries of exploration, on this day, you have brought honor to your country and your family." The President then looked over at Abigail, Riley and I. He smiled a bit. " You've done this country a great service. I thank you." I grinned.

" Thank you." Abigail said, smiling and hugging her blanket around herself.

" Thank you so much, Sir." I responded, unable to stop grinning. Riley wasn't able of coherent speech and grinned, making a happy sound that everyone could guess meant 'thank you'.

" Craig." The bodyguard came over, holding something. " I thought you might like to take a look at tomorrow's headlines." He took the newspaper and handed it to Ben. Riley's brow furrowed.

" Tomorrow?" He asked.

I looked over Ben's shoulder and saw a column that read;

_Thomas Gates Proved a Civil War Hero_

Ben nodded silently for a moment, and I could almost feel the emotion rolling off of him.

" Thank you, Sir."

" All of you, along with Emily and Patrick Gates will get credit for this discovery." The President said. Ben looked back at us and I gave a smile and nodded, urging him on. The President gave us a confused look.

" And Mitch Wilkinson, Sir." Ben said, giving a small nod.

" Is that right?"

" It's true, sir." Ben responded.

" Ben, I _am_ curious about that favor I asked you. Any report regarding what's on page forty-seven?" He asked. I furrowed my brow and looked over at Riley and Abigail, who both looked equally as confused. Page forty-seven? What was he referring to? The Secret Book?

" I believe I can help with that, Sir." Ben told him, all seriousness in his voice. Okay, obviously this had _something_ to do with the night Ben kidnapped him.

" So it's good?" The President asked.

" Life-altering, Sir." The President nodded to the side to gesture that he and Ben were going to go talk. They began to walk away and Abigail nudged Riley's shoulder.

" What's on page forty-seven? Are you talking about the Book?" He called after them, referring to the President's Secret Book. The President turned and looked at us, an almost non-existent smirk on his face. He then asked,

" What book?"

As Ben and the President went to talk, I looked around and then pulled off the brown, scratchy blanket from my shoulders. I lifted my left hand. I looked at the soldiers and other people around us.

" Would it in any way be possible for me to get to a hospital? My wrist is starting to throb again." I asked, pointing to the still wet bandages on my hand.

OOO

The next morning, we all went out to buy new outfits, seeing as our adventure clothes were ripped and torn. The night before we'd been informed along with Thomas Gates being proved a hero in the newspaper, they were announcing the discovery of Cibola, which they were currently ridding the water that engulfed it. I now had a cast on my wrist, which had taken a good two hours to have put on. Me being me, I had everyone sign it. When I woke up in our hotel the next morning, my body ached horribly, and as I took a shower to rinse off all the grime I couldn't get off the night before, I discovered bruises on my ribs and ankle as well as a few minor cuts on my jaw, right cheek and neck, all courtesy of loosing my footing.

We'd all been invited to a special party that night that celebrated Cibola's discovery, and we all figured we'd just show up in comfortable clothes. I bought a loose fitting blue floral blouse that I got a waist belt to wear with it, along with a new pair of blue jeans and a tan leather biker-style jacket. I'd acquired a small obsession with jewelry and bought a heart-shaped necklace and black rose earrings. I kept my boots, deciding that they weren't completely ruined yet. I kept my hair loose, the curls resting on my collarbone.

When we went to lunch, I began to notice that Riley was acting a bit odd. He seemed really nervous, on edge and he kept jumping at small noises. When I asked him what was wrong, he dismissed it as the previous days events finally catching up to him. I guess that may explain it, I was still calming myself over it too; almost dying a few times takes it out of you, I don't suggest trying it. What I didn't mind was the fact he kept so close to me. He held my hand tightly and had an arm around my waist whenever he could. I absolutely loved being close to him, I loved feeling the heat that came off his body and the warmth that I felt in my heart (I don't care if it sounds cliché, it's true).

That evening, we arrived at the party at Mount Rushmore and Riley told me he was going to go buy some things at the gift shop to, quote, 'Remember this adventure forever'. I laughed and let him, milling around by myself for a bit. Emily and Patrick were helping workers begin to catalogue what they found down in Cibola, and Ben and Abigail were off talking somewhere.

Mount Rushmore was lit up in bright lights, the stoic faces of the presidents staring out across and above us. I walked over to a waist-height wall and sat on it, swinging my legs to hang over the edge. My jacket hung open and I felt only a little bit cold, the night air having a bit of a bite to it. I stared up at Mount Rushmore and smiled a bit, still loving seeing it properly for the first time. I glanced over my shoulder to look for Riley, he'd been gone for about ten minutes. I spotted him, walking through the crowd with a bag in one arm, a cup of something to drink in the other. A woman with red-blond hair stepped forward to stop him.

" Excuse me." I heard her say. Riley stopped and turned to look at her. They were close enough for me to hear what they were saying, but I wasn't making it too obvious I was listening. " Hey, you're that guy, the treasure hunter guy, right?" She asked. Riley gave a small shake of his head.

" No, actually, the guy you're thinking of is somewhere over there." He told her, pointing with his cup-occupied hand towards the right. He gave a small smile that matched the energy of the monotone he'd spoken in. The pretty woman laughed and shook her head, grinning.

" No, you're him." She pulled out a book. _Riley's_ book. " Riley Poole. I recognize you from your book!" She told him excitedly. Riley's face went into shock as he stared at her. " Will you sign it?" She asked hopefully. The bag slipped from Riley's arm and crashed to the ground and he blinked once.

" Okay." He said in a breathless and shocked voice. He took the book and smiled at her as she gave him a pen as well. He opened the book and signed his first autograph. Handing it back, I could hear the woman say something about how much she enjoyed the book, and as he thanked her, he caught my eye and I grinned at him, giving him a thumbs up. I then turned back to look at the mountain before me, happy Riley finally got what he'd wanted.

After a moment I heard someone walk over. I turned around and saw Riley, setting his bag on the ground. He grinned at me.

" Hey there, Mr. Author!" I said, reaching out and ruffling his hair. He laughed and straightened out his hair again, jumping up to sit next to me. " I see you've met a fan and signed your first autograph to someone who wasn't me." He grinned brightly and kissed my cheek.

" Well, you'll always get to say you got the first autograph."

" Well, I get to say you're my boyfriend so I'd say that tops all of that." I decided, leaning back into his chest, feeling his arms wind around my waist, holding me closer. I put my hands on his and leaned my head back against his shoulder.

" And I get to say you're my girlfriend so that beats everything." Riley told me and I could hear a smile in his voice. I felt a blush raise to my cheeks as I laughed a bit. Riley nodded towards Mount Rushmore. " Tell me something about each of those guys up there."

" What?"

" You heard me."

" You want me to go all history geek on you?" I asked incredulously. " I've been refraining from doing that. I thought you didn't like it."

" No, I don't like it when _Ben _does it. I like it when you do it, it's kind of adorable and at times kind of hot, actually." He told me, pulling back to grin at me. Grinning back, I laughed quietly, looking up at the mountain.

" Okay, I'll do it. So, George Washington; commander in chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and the first president of the United States. Thomas Jefferson; he was the third president of the United States and also the principle author of the Declaration of Independence. I bet he didn't figure it would get stolen all these years later." Riley chuckled at that comment. " Theodore Roosevelt; twenty-sixth president of the United States and shortly after he ended his presidency he went on a safari in both east and central Africa. And Abraham Lincoln; sixteenth president of the United States, delivered the Gettysburg address in eighteen sixty-three and he was assassinated, and that assassination was _not_ conspired by Thomas Gates." I finished with a smile up at him. He grinned down at me.

" I love it when you do that." He said again, pulling me closer. I turned in his arms and wound my arms around his chest, sliding my hands beneath his jacket. He leaned down and kissed me, and I eagerly returned it. When he pulled away I rested my head against his chest. We sat there a moment and listened to the mindless chatter around us. Riley shifted a bit and I felt him let go of my waist. I looked up at him in confusion and pulled my arms back, sitting up straight.

" What's wrong?" I asked.

" Nothing." He said standing, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. He licked his lips and looked down for a moment.

" Obviously it's something." I told him, getting a bit worried. He turned and faced me.

" I was just thinking. About when Ian held you hostage with that gun and then Mitch threatening to kill you with the knife. I cannot express how horrified I was that I was going to loose you yesterday. I can't picture my life without you in it, I love you so, so much, Arabella. I hate it when I see you in pain, and I love making you happy and seeing you laugh. I don't know how a guy like me has gotten so lucky to get the most gorgeous and caring and funny woman in the world." Riley told me, smiling at me. He grabbed my hand and ran his thumb across my knuckles gently, licking his lips again. " So, Arabella, I'd like to ask you something." His bright blue eyes met mine and he smiled at me, slowly getting down on one knee.

" Arabella Fletcher, will you marry me?" He asked, pulling a ring box out of his pocket. I felt my jaw drop in shock and my free hand flew up to cover my mouth. Riley was grinning up at me, looking hopeful. I was barely aware of the people who were stopping and staring. My heart was racing and I dropped my hand, finally able to grin back at him.

" Yes, Riley! Oh my God, _yes_!" I told him, nodding quickly. Riley relaxed visibly as he quickly slid the ring on my left fourth finger and stood quickly, yanking me into a tight hug. I was slightly aware of the applause that had suddenly sounded around us. I was too happy to even acknowledge anyone but Riley. I pulled away enough to pull him in for a kiss, placing both my hands on his cheeks. I felt Riley smile and kiss back, winding his arms around my waist again. I was just getting lost in being so close to Riley, my mind unable to form coherent thoughts. Riley was no longer my boyfriend, he was my _fiancé. _My fiancé! This was without a doubt the _best day of my life!_

Unfortunately the need for air beat us both and we pulled away, resting our foreheads resting against together. I grinned at him, stroking my thumb across his cheekbone.

" I love you so much, Riley." I told him quietly. He was still grinning as well, and he pressed another kiss to my lips before saying,

" I love you even more, Arabella." I pulled him closer again before I noticed Abigail and Ben pushing through the crowd towards us, both smiling widely. Pulling away from Riley I gave Ben a tight hug when he opened his arms for one. I squeezed him tightly and he rubbed my back.

" Congratulations, Arabella!" He told me happily, grinning down at me.

" Thanks!" I told him.

" Now, if he ever hurts you in any way, let me know." Said Ben in a _very_ big brother-like manor. I rolled my eyes.

" I will, but he won't." I assured him, turning and finding myself pulled into a hug by Abigail. She pulled back and grinned at me, laughing happily.

" Congratulations! Okay, let me see the ring, I have to ask." She said. Actually, I needed to look at it too, I didn't even pay attention to it much. I held out my hand and looked down at a silver banded ring that appeared woven in the front and a small diamond sat on the front. It was beautiful, but even if Riley had given me a ring from a cereal box I would have said yes.

After talking with the two for a while they went off to go talk and I threaded my fingers through Riley's again.

" The thing about that ring is that I bought it at a that sits on the foundation of this historic old tavern that apparently some rebels during the Revolutionary War met at," Riley began to explain and I smiled, sliding my hands up his arms and across his shoulders. When I rested them on his next he let out a quiet laugh and blushed a bit. " I'm guessing that you don't really care about that, do you?" He asked. I shook my head.

" No, I love the fact that you're explaining something historic, just like I usually do. And now I guess I see what you mean that it can be hot when you talk like that…" I told him.

" I was referring to you when I said that." He said, putting his hands on my waist again. I grinned and pulled him a bit closer again.

" And now it also applies to you." Riley grinned and chuckled.

" Good to know. I'll have to start doing some research and do that more." He joked and I just grinned and nodded, giggling when he kissed me again. I wound my arms around my neck and slid a hand into his hair as the kiss deepened.

We both stood there for God knows how long, and I could vaguely make out the sound of fireworks in the distance. The sound made the both of us know the second chaotic adventure was over. But, as Riley said earlier on, this wasn't going to be the last. Our life was just going to keep getting even more chaotic, but the fact that we were now both engaged ensured that we'd stick through it together.

I suddenly pulled back and looked up at Riley.

" Riley, you're going to have to meet my parents." I told him. He blinked for a moment and then nodded.

" Yeah. We should probably also tell them pretty soon that we're getting married." The statement made us both smile again.

" But that can wait till tomorrow, don't you think?"

" Definitely."

I wrapped my arms around his chest again, his arms winding around my waist as we watched the fireworks explode in the sky above Mount Rushmore. Second adventure down, so many more to go.

_**Afterword:**__** YESSSS THEY ARE ENGAGED! =D WOO! =D Also, this isn't the last chapter! =D I was thinking of doing a few more about returning to D.C. and Arabella and Riley calling her parents and, of course, Riley getting his Ferrari back! =D**_

___**I also REALLY want to make another story about another adventure! (that would also probably include them meeting her parents) But, first, I'll have to find a new legend to base it off of, so, if anyone has any suggestions please to let me know!**_

_** REVIEW RESPONSES!**_

**grapejuice101:** _Ahaha! Yeah, she always gets into some sort of trouble like that; probably cause she's the one everyone cares about in some way. I'm glad you liked it! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! =D Thanks for the review!_

**Phillipfan24:**_ I'm glad you liked the chapter and enjoyed this one! Thanks again for the review!_

**MidoriPoet:**_ I'm glad you liked the RileyxArabella moments! I wanted some more of those before the proposal in this chapter =D Thanks again for the review!_

**Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967:**_ I thought it would be a sweet way to end the chapter! I'm glad you liked it and hope you liked this chapter! Thanks again!_

_**Thanks for all those who have also added this to their favorites and story alerts! Means a lot!**_

_** Again, to anyone who might have a suggestion for a myth/legend for a new story for this series, let me know! Please review and let me know what you thought! Thanks again!**_

_**~ Mary**_


	17. Chapter Seventeen: It's The Ferrari!

_Disclaimer: I do not own either National Treasure movie or any of the characters; I only own my OC Arabella._

Chapter Seventeen: Holy Shit, It's The Ferrari!

We arrived back in DC a day later, just around noon. The air was getting cooler and crisper, hints of fall touching the air. After changing I knew I had to go to work and explain my absence from my job and hope that I actually still had it. I pulled on a dress that was grey blue with cap-sleeves that where lined with lace and patterned with flowers on the hem. I fixed the square neckline and pulled on some ballet flats, turning to leave the bedroom. Riley was leaning against the doorframe smiling at me. He had his arms crossed loosely and the light slightly glinted off of the ring on his left hand.

" You look nice in dresses, you should wear them more often." Riley told me. I smiled at him and felt myself blush a bit.

" Well, maybe I will, but dresses have never really been… me." I told him, grabbing a jacket. He walked over and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me, pressing a kiss to the side of my neck.

" Or maybe I should just take you places where you need to wear them." He joked.

" Oh, and _there's_ the evil computer genius I love." I giggled, turning and kissing him for a moment. " But now I need to go apologize profusely to my boss so I still have a job. And tonight, we're calling my parents."

Riley gave a slightly nervous smile and a nod at the last bit and I rolled my eyes and grabbed his glasses off the dresser. I slid them into his pocket.

" Don't keep forgetting those. I like them on you." I kissed his cheek before pulling my jacket on and departing.

Seeing as we were still without a car, I began my walk towards the Smithsonian, which would take maybe anywhere from a half hour to an hour to walk to. The cast on my wrist was already getting annoying and I'd only had it on for about three days. It was bulky and I'd accidentally kept hitting myself with it.

The one thing I didn't mind looking at on my left hand was the engagement ring Riley had gotten me. I smiled like a love-struck idiot every time I looked at it, and lets face it, I kind of am. I ran a finger over it and thought about how a year ago, being engaged hadn't been a thought even close in my mind. I found myself wondering what my life would be like now if Ben had never called me that one afternoon, if he never asked me to pick him up at the airport, if I had never met Riley or been dragged into the chaos. I would probably be sitting in a lonely apartment wondering what to do the next day. That was what I was glad I didn't have to do. I could go home to Riley and have someone to joke with and talk to. Have someone to love and to love me back.

Finally making it to the National Museum of American History, my feet were beginning to ache a bit and I prepared myself for anything my boss could throw at me. I stepped through the doors and waved to a co-worker who slowly waved back. I walked through the lobby, pulling my jacket off. I glanced down at my arm at the cuts on my arm from the London car chase. They were healing but looked very prominent on my pale skin.

" Arabella!" I heard Jackson call out. He ran over to me and I noticed he'd gotten his bright red haircut a bit shorter. I smiled a bit at him and gave a wave with my left hand.

" Hey, Jackson." I said as I stopped walking.

" Where've you been the past few days? It's like you just… disappeared!" He said with a worried look on his face. I raised an eyebrow and laughed a bit.

" You don't read the newspaper or watch the news too often, do you?" I asked with a kind laugh. He shook his head. " My friends and I have been up to it again. We got threatened, chased and injured. But it all paid off and we found something worth being chased for." I gestured to my arm and hand on 'injured'. I began to walk off to go find our boss, but Jackson called out;

" Wait, what did you find?"

" Cibola!"

OOO

_**Riley's Point of View:**_

I had decided to go to the bookstore to pick up a new book, wearing a new jacket that kept the chill in the air. As I was walking back home, head bent over, reading, I found myself barely registering the words, my mind still buzzing with the fact that I was getting married to the most amazing woman in the world. I was amazed that Arabella had said yes. I knew that I was so totally in love with her and I had no idea where I would be if I'd never met her. I would probably be sitting in my window-less cubicle in the tech-support office. But, I guess I had to thank Ben for the fact I ever met her. I'd have to make a point out of actually thanking him for that…

I was almost to the apartment door when I almost walked past a bright red sports car parked on the side of the road. In fact, I _did_ walk past the bright red sports car… A car that looked _very_ familiar. I spun around on my heel faster then I ever have and ran back. I stared wide-eyed at _my_ Ferrari. It was back! I saw an envelope underneath the windshield-wiper that had '_Mr. Riley Poole_' scrawled across the front along with what looked like the presidential seal. I picked it up and felt the key attached to the back. I held it in my hand, smiling as I flipped the envelope around, opening it. How on earth was my car back? It had been _towed_ and then very likely _impounded_. And I know _I_ didn't pay to get it back and neither did Arabella… And that _was_ the presidential seal… so…

Pulling the stationary out from the envelope slowly, the presidential seal was once again visible at the top of it. Then it said;

**THE WHITE HOUSE**

**Washington**

_**From the desk of the President**_

" President…" I muttered, smiling again. I pulled the rest of the paper out and flipped it over to see in the President's handwriting;

TAX FREE

I happily tossed my book into the passenger's seat along with the note and then jumped into the driver's seat, not bothering to use the door. I eagerly put the keys in the ignition and started the car and it purred as the engine roared to life again. I grinned and relaxed back into the seat.

" I love this car." I said to myself. Well, Arabella probably didn't have to work for the rest of the day, so I might as well go pick her up! No more walking everywhere! I put the car into gear and grabbed the steering wheel. I put my foot on the gas and the car jerked _backwards_ and it suddenly came to mind that I put the car in reverse instead of drive… There was a painful crunch and crashing sound as the bumper of the Ferrari rammed into the car behind it. I winced and squeezed my eyes shut. Of course… how we'll have to get _that_ fixed. Shaking my head I put the car in drive (and triple checked I had) and then pulled out onto the street, the cool air weaving its way through my hair.

I drove up to the National Museum of American History and parked across the street, running across the road and inside of the museum, waving to a few of the people I'd gotten to know from there. I saw that guy with the red hair. Was his name Jackson? Oh, whatever, maybe he'll know where Arabella is. I walked over to him.

" Hey, you know Arabella, right?" I asked him. He raised an eyebrow as he looked me up and down.

" Yeah… why…?"

" I'm Riley, her fiancé." God, it kind of felt amazing to say that. " Do you know where she is?" Jackson stared at me for a moment before vaguely pointing towards the room where the Star Spangled banner was. " Thanks, dude." I pat him on the shoulder with a smile before heading to go find her.

She was standing and staring at the flag, head tilted a bit as she looked at it. I walked over and took her right hand, and I saw her jump. I chuckled a bit and nudged her arm as she looked up at me.

" Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I told her. She smiled up at me and laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with her left hand.

" You jut surprised me. I didn't know it was you; I thought it was some creeper and I was getting ready to smack you with this." She gestured to her cast. I laughed and hugged her.

" Good to know you can still defend yourself with that thing on. I do _love_ the ring though." I grinned at her. She grinned back.

" And I love it too." She stretched up on her toes and kissed me for a moment, a moment I wished could have been longer. " And I love yours." She told me, running her thumb over my engagement ring. I grinned at her excitedly and began to pull her out of the room.

" I have a big surprise for you." I told her as I practically made her run out of the museum and across the street. We stopped by the Ferrari and I held out my arms, grinning like mad.

" Ta-da!" I said. Arabella stared in shock.

" Holy shit it's the Ferrari!" She said as she grinned. Then it faded a bit and she sighed and shook her head. " Riley, what did you do to the bumper?" She asked. We looked to see it was dented pretty badly and the paint was a bit scratched, but it was something that could be fixed.

" Nothing…" I muttered, rubbing the back of my head.

" Did you back up into another car?"

" Maybe… In my defense, the other car was parked way too close."

" This is why I love you."

_**Afterword: And there's that! It's short, I know, but I just wanted to get this it up. There will be one more chapter in which they tell Arabella's parents they're engaged. THEN IT WILL BE ON TO THE NEXT ADVENTURE! =D**_

_** REVIEW RESPONSES! =D**_

**Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967:**_ I've always wanted to go to Mount Rushmore! And I hope I can some day! I thought it would be a nice time/place for him to propose! Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!_

**grapjuice101: **_I __REALLY__ like the idea of Atlantis! It's one of my favorite myths/legends! Thanks again for the suggestion and the review! (I'm still working on the Doctor Who chap, it's really long XD) Thanks again!_

**BigTimeRushLover12:**_ I also really like the idea of the Fountain of Youth! I'm stuck on deciding what to do XD But thanks so much for the review! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! _**MidoriPoet:**_ I think it's supposed to be released in 2014. Two more years DX Which is why I'm doing another story based off of another myth/legend. Hope you liked the chapter and thanks again!_

**will zona:**_ Hm… I'll have to look up Peruvian myths and stuff… And even if there aren't any really big myths, I can figure out a way for them to go there! Thanks for the suggestion! I hope you liked the chapter! Thanks again!_

_**And thanks to everyone who had added this to their favorites or their story alerts! **_

_** Also! I'm going to put up a poll on my profile page to get your guys' opinions on what I should do for the next adventure (I've gotten two big ones that are hard to choose between DX) AND THERE IS ALSO A POLL UP for what story you guys might like to see me do next. I believe that the options I put up are; Batman (Bruce/OC), Indiana Jones (Mutt {Indy's son}/OC) and The Hangover (Phil/OC). So, I'd love your guys' votes! **_

_** Please review! I'd like to know what you thought! Thanks again!**_

_**~Mary**_


	18. Chapter Eighteen: It'll Happen Again

_Disclaimer:__ I do not own either National Treasure movies or any of the characters. I only own my OC Arabella._

**Foreword: Hey! At the end of this chapter I will be announcing the gang's next adventure! WOO! =D Also, they do speak to Arabella's parents over the phone, so when her parents speak, it'll be in **_italics_**. Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Allons-y!**

Chapter Eighteen: It's Gonna Happen Again

_**Arabella's Point of View:**_

I snatched my phone off the bedside table and walked back into the living room, shaking my head with a smile.

" The President gave you your car back. That's pretty freaking cool!" I told Riley, who was sitting on the couch, smiling over at me.

" I know! But now I have to put it in a garage to straighten out the dents…" He muttered, rubbing the back of his head. I laughed, sitting beside him, patting his knee.

" Ah, I still love you even if you do total the Ferrari," I teased him, tucking my legs underneath myself. He blushed and shot me a playful glare.

" I didn't total it. I _dented _it," He corrected me, finally noting the phone in my hand. " So… Are we calling your parents?"

" You bet we are!" I confirmed with a smile, unlocking my phone. Riley sighed, ruffling his hair with his right hand. He looked dead nervous. He kept shifting in his seat, his eyes couldn't stop flicking about the room and his face had paled a shade. I smacked his arm as I began to dial my Mom's number.

" Don't look like you're going to be executed by Dracula, it's just my parents," I joked, looking over at him. He sighed and his bright blue eyes looked troubled.

" It _is_ execution if they don't like me, you do realize that," He stated. I raised an eyebrow.

" Continue with that statement." I set the phone on the couch on the vacant cushion. Riley sighed and wound his arms around my waist.

" If they don't like me, they'll hate me for… forever. Also, I highly doubt they'd want a computer nerd who has one fairly failed book published to marry their daughter," He continued, pulling on his glasses for what was probably supposed to be emphasis. I shook my head and smiled up at him.

" One; they won't hate you, I've known them my entire life, I should know. Two; computer nerds are pretty damn awesome. And three; you're book isn't 'failed' it has a very concentrated fan base," I reached up and adjusted his glasses. " And I love those glasses. They make you look cute." Riley laughed and raised an eyebrow.

" Just cute?" He questioned. I laughed.

" And hot," I added. He grinned.

" Cute and hot? That's all?"

" You're pushing it, dude." I punched his shoulder. " But if you're wondering what else, sexy too, I hope you're happy."

" I am," He agreed, leaning down and kissing me for a moment. I smiled against his soft lips and then held up the phone.

" Parents time."

" Alright…" He said in resignation, allowing me to re-dial the number. I hit call and then switched it to speaker. It rang a few times before the other line picked up.

" _Hello?_" Came my mother's soft voice. I grinned.

" Hey, Mom!" I said enthusiastically. I heard her gasp a bit.

" _Arabella! Oh, Sweetie, how are you? We haven't spoken in ages!_"

" I'm doing really well, how about you? How are things in Boston?" I asked.

" _Oh, everything's fine here; all's well in fair old Boston. Your father and I have been missing you a lot,_" My Mom said and I smiled a bit.

" I've been missing you too, I've been hoping to come down for a visit in the near future. But I need to talk to both you and Dad about something, is he around?" I asked hopefully leaning my head against Riley's shoulder, smiling up at him. He smiled back down, his face still nervous.

" _Of course! Just give me a moment,_" My Mom told me before it sounded like she set the phone down on presumably a table.

" See, my Mom's nice."

" It's your Dad I'm mostly worried about," Riley muttered.

" He's nice too, relax a bit." I kissed his cheek. " Love you."

" Love you too," He replied, smiling at me.

" _Darling! How are you?_" Came my Dad's voice from the phone. I smiled at his voice.

" I'm doing really well! I'm glad to hear things in Boston aren't crazy like my life's been for the past week. Never mind that though, is the phone on speaker?"

" _Yes, it is,_"

" Okay, well, even though we aren't face-to-face, I need to introduce you both to someone important," I told them, taking Riley's hand and squeezing it.

" _Who?_" My Mom asked.

" Well, you know how I've told you about my boyfriend? I thought you might actually like to technically meet him." I laughed a bit. " He's right here." I nudged Riley's side. He cleared his throat a bit.

" Hello." Riley said a tad awkwardly, shaking his head at his own greeting. " I'm Riley Poole, it's a pleasure to… talk with you." I giggled quietly.

" _Oh! Hello, Riley! It's good to finally speak with you, Arabella's told me a lot about you. I guess you've already figured I'm her mother,_" Said my Mom, sounding rather happy. Riley smiled.

" I'm glad I get to finally speak with you as well."

"_ I hope you know how highly my daughter speaks of you, Riley. And you better hope that she's been truthful_" Came my Dad's authoritative voice. Riley gulped a bit and looked at me. I smiled and rolled my eyes.

" He means it's nice to speak with you," I translated. " And yes, Dad, I have been truthful. He's amazing." I rested my head back on Riley's shoulder. Conversation drifted into comfortable territory for a while, talking about how we met and such. About the newspapers that had contained our most recent adventure. Both my Mom and Dad took to Riley extremely well, which made him relax visibly. Then, I decided it was going to have to e time to tell them the news.

" Mom, Dad, we actually have something really important to tell you," There was silence on the line for a second so I continued. " Riley and I are engaged."

The way they reacted was better than I would have envisioned it going. Both my parents immediately began to congratulate us; mostly my Mother while my Father seemed to be stumbling over his words in shock. I hugged Riley as we listened to the jumble of words coming from my phone. Eventually the noise died down.

" _Oh, Sweetie, that's wonderful!_" My Mom exclaimed happily, and I'm pretty sure it sounded like she was crying.

" _You have to come down to Boston as soon as possible, Arabella, Riley. We actually need to meet him._" Was my Dad's response, which was what I expected it to be. Riley stiffened a bit and I shook my head with a laugh.

" Yes, Daddy, we'll come down soon, I promise."

" _But… You have my permission to get married. I already you, Riley, I can tell my daughter loves you._"

Riley grinned and the arm he'd wrapped around my shoulders squeezed me happily.

" Thank you so much, Mr. Fletcher, I sincerely can't wait to meet the two of you," Riley said happily.

" _We can't wait to meet you too, Riley! Well, we'll let you go, it's getting late and I'm assuming you haven't eaten dinner yet,_" My Mom chided, and I blushed.

" Hey, we just got back from the Smithsonian. But… no, we haven't," I admitted. My parents laughed.

" _Can't wait to see you two whenever we can! Love you, Sweetie!_"

" Love you, Mom!"

" _Take care, Darling. Don't hurt my daughter, Riley,_" My Dad threatened in his 'Dad voice'.

" I'd never dream of it," Riley said. I smiled.

" Love you, Dad! Bye!" I hung up the phone and tossed it to the other side of the couch and I smiled and sighed happily, relaxing into Riley's arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and I could tell he was smiling.

" The computer nerd passed the parents test," He teased, chuckling. I laughed quietly and kissed the side of his neck.

" I told you that you would. You shouldn't doubt me," I told him in a mock-serious tone, grinning up at him. He grinned back.

" I don't, remember? I'm the one who always believes you."

" And I always believe you."

" And I thank you for that, I really do," He told me sincerely, twisting a strand of my hair around his finger. I smiled and snuggled into his chest, shutting my eyes. I couldn't believe my life was becoming so perfect. I would have never thought I'd end up feeling so loved.

OOOO

_**A few days later…**_

Riley and I had been invited over to Ben and Abigail's for lunch. The two had made up and everything was betting better between the two, and I was glad, because when they were together they were both very happy. The air was cool, autumn steadily seeping into everything. Leaves were turning and the temperature was slowly getting cooler every day.

We sat out on the back porch on the patio set, staring out at the large back yard expanding before us. Riley sat close by me, holding my hand. I was relaxing against the cold white metal of my patio chair, ankles crossed, toying with a button on my sweater, which hung open over a plain t-shirt.

" So your parents were completely okay with you getting engaged to a guy they've never met?" Ben asked, eyebrow raised. I nodded.

" I've talked about Riley before and we're planning on heading down to Boston soon to meet up with them. Either that or they come up here to DC," I said smiling. Ben turned his eyes to Riley.

" Are you scared about meeting her father?"

" Of course I am. If I'm even remotely considered a threat to her, I'll be kicked out into the street on my butt," Riley said in his classic monotone. I rolled my eyes and playfully kicked his shin. He shot me a look. " Don't tell me that's not true."

" I neither confirm nor disprove that statement," I informed with a nod of my head, looking off towards the garden. I heard Riley snort and I could practically feel him roll his eyes.

" Of course you do," Riley laughed, leaning over and kissing my cheek. I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder.

" I think that this is going to become a thing; coming to your house after a crazy adventure. Last year we came here after you bought it and now we're sitting here eating sandwiches after finding Cibola," I said, gesturing to the large yard. Abigail laughed.

" I think you might be right. But you don't think that we'll be subjected to more adventurous torture, do you?" Abigail asked. I thought for a moment, quirking my mouth to the side. I shook my head.

" No, we will. Are you kidding me? We're all connected to _Ben_ we're gonna get dragged into something else," I concluded. Ben shot me a look and rolled his eyes.

" You know, maybe you'll the one dragging us into something next time, you're just as much trouble as I am," Ben supplied, lacing his fingers together with a smirk.

" True," Abigail agreed.

" He is right," Riley said with a nod. I shot them all looks and rolled my eyes.

" Well, let me know next time I drag you into something! I'll try not to, I _promise_." I made an 'X' over my heart and then crossed my fingers. My three friends laughed and I joined in, shaking my head. " Okay, so that isn't a guarantee. Just promise you'll all still love me if that happens."

" Of course we will! There wouldn't be an interesting life without you," Abigail comforted me, tucking a lock of blond hair behind her ear. Ben grinned at me.

" Wouldn't dream of letting you go," He told me. I smiled and then looked at Riley. After a moment he looked at all of us and laughed.

" I'm marrying you, I think that says it _all_," He said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I laughed and nodded.

" I think that does," I agreed, kissing his shoulder.

The only question we all probably had buzzing across our minds was probably this; when would chaos strike again, and were would it take us next?

_**Afterword:**__** Last chapter! No, no, no! Don't cry! Don't have a fit! The next one is in production! Well… it's being planned XD OKAY THE BIG REVEAL OF WHERE THEY WILL BE GOING NEXT: * Drum roll! * ATLANTIS! They will be looking for Atlantis! =D And our favorite blond British enemy will be back… GASP! I'm full of surprises aren't I? XD**_

_** Review Responses! =D**_

**Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967:**_ I'm glad you liked it and hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks again for all the reviews!_

**Phillipfan24:**_ I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks again for the review!_

**grapejuice101:**_ Yeah, that's Riley for you! Get's his beloved car back and he dents it within the first few minutes he has it XD Thanks again for the review!_

**MidoriPoet:**_ Drivers who park too close are rather annoying XD I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks!_

**Nienna-Elven-Warrior:**_ I actually am gonna do the Mutt/OC story along with the Batman one XD I love Mutt, he's kind of amazing! XD I'm glad you've enjoyed the story! I hope that you'll stick around for the next one!_

**will zona:**_ I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! Hope you liked this one! Thanks again for the review!_

_**And thank you to anyone who had read or added this story to their favorites or story alerts! It means everything to me!**_

_** Ahahaha! I had the most random thought; I hope Riley's bachelor party doesn't end up like The Hangover XD That would be funny though. Also, if anyone gets why I referenced that, let me know if you agree if that would be hilarious!  
>Okay, so, I <strong>__**will**__** be using the Fountain of Youth idea for my Indiana Jones fic, for anyone who'd like to look out for that one; I've got it almost all planned out and hope to get the first chapter up. Same thing for the Batman one. **_

_** Reviews would be loved! Thank you all to stuck with this story! I'm really glad you all enjoyed it! Also, I WILL post an Authors Note when the third story is posted! I hope to get it done really soon! Thanks again everyone!**_

_**~ Mary**_


	19. Author's Note!

AUTHOR'S NOTE! =D

HELLO EVERYONE! =D GREAT NEWS. So, I finished the pretty short prologue to the next story and will be posting it in like… two minutes XD So, the name of the new story will be called _**Never Ending Chaos.**_ So, the third installment will be up in a very short time! I hope all of you will go read the Prologue! I start school tomorrow so updates may be a bit slow, especially since I have a lot of stories I update regularly XD So, I hope you'll enjoy what I have up so far! Thanks again!

~Mary


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